Parents of Study Abroad Applicants:

Study abroad builds critical thinking skills and independence. It’s very important that your student makes his or her own choices and has his or her own study abroad experience. We have found that students are more invested if they work through the process of deciding to study abroad and selecting a program individually.

Parents of Outbound Students:

We provide pre-departure information to students the semester prior to study abroad. All semester study abroad students take a pre-departure course called Study Abroad 101 and summer students attend one or more pre-departure meetings during spring semester. Overseas Programs mails pre-departure information to parents, but much of the program-specific information is provided to students only. Please talk to your student to make sure that he or she relays relevant information to you.

Parents of Students Abroad:

Communication
Before your student leaves to study abroad, you should make sure to discuss your plan for communication during the student’s time abroad.

• The first step is to plan when and how your student will contact you once they arrive in their host country. Depending where the student is located, the easiest way may be to purchase a phone card (in country) and call from a pay phone. Be patient. It often takes time for students to purchase a phone and get internet access in their housing abroad.
• It is also important to have a system in place for getting in touch in case of an emergency.

Remember that the more time students spend communicating with family and friends back home, the less time they spend immersing themselves in their host culture, one of the primary goals of the study abroad experience. If your student is engaged in the host culture and study abroad experience, he or she will likely be in touch with you less often. Though you will miss your student, it should be viewed as a positive thing that he or she is engaged abroad. We recommend encouraging your student to communicate when he or she can and to tell you about all of the things he or she is learning and experiencing. This will help your student to make the most of the study abroad experience while still including you.

Forms of Communication

• Skype or Google Video Chat allow people to make voice and video calls via the Internet. Calls from computer to computer on these services are free of charge while calls to phones cost a small fee. This is typically the cheapest and easiest form of communication, provided that your student has sufficient internet access while abroad.
• We recommend that students purchase cheap cell phones while abroad along with pay as you go plans. Students can purchase minutes and are not charged for incoming calls or texts. Students can add more minutes to the plans as needed. This usually tends to be a cheaper option than using cell phones from home and the phones are much cheaper and easier to replace if stolen. Data plans on smart phones tend to be very expensive while abroad, so we would recommend that students plan to spend their time abroad without the internet at their fingertips. This will also help them to engage more in their host culture.

Culture Shock and Homesickness

• Culture shock is a normal part of the study abroad experience and most students will experience it to some degree during their time abroad. Culture shock is rarely identified as such by the person experiencing it. You student may convey culture shock by identifying problems with the host country, program, or local population.
• Remember, your student is much more likely to share negatives than positives with you as students are more likely to call in times of frustration. Please try to frame their frustrations in a positive light because they are part of the study abroad experience and contribute to your student’s growth. You should encourage your student to stay positive and to work things out on his or her own, but be there to listen and support your student. Avoid getting overly involved. Remember that because students are more likely to call during times of frustration, you may not hear from your student that the situation has improved. Please make sure to confirm with your student that problems have not improved before contacting the program. Patience on everyone’s part is extremely important.  

Visiting

• We encourage you to visit your student while abroad if possible, but it is important that the visit is timed appropriately. The beginning of programs is a time when students are transitioning to life abroad and developing friendships. Parents and guardians are encouraged to wait until the program is well underway or wait until the end of the term. Your student should then be able to show you favorite places, impress you with foreign language skills, and introduce you to new friends.
• Some study abroad programs do not allow visits during the time of the program, so make sure that your student checks the program policy. It also may not be possible for you to stay with your student in his or her accommodations abroad.
• Not all parents/guardians are able to visit their students abroad, so do not feel badly if you’re unable to visit. Students will share their experiences with you via photos, blogs, phone calls, or emails.

Parents of Returnees:

Reentry Shock

Please note that reverse culture shock is as common as the culture shock students experience abroad. If your student had a particularly great experience abroad, reentry shock can often be worse. Most students don’t realize how much they have changed from their study abroad experience until they arrive home and see how their interactions with the people close to them have been affected. One of the biggest frustrations after returning home from living abroad is that people are not as interested in hearing the details about the students’ experiences as they would like. Parents and guardians should listen to your students’ stories and look at their pictures. It is also important to encourage them to stay in touch with friends they made overseas, continue to practice foreign language skills, and get involved when they are back on campus.