First of all, "The Caribbean" consists of around 20 totally DIFFERENT countries, some of which have per capita crime rates comparable to or higher than, Miami, L.A., N.Y.C., and some of which have crime rates approaching ZERO.. i.e. Much LOWER than ANY US metropolitan area. In the past 10 years I have been to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, USVI',s BVI's, Puerto Rico, Dominican Rep. Haiti, Caymans, Jamaica,Cuba, and around 60 islands in the Bahamas.(off the top of my head). What happened to that girl in Aruba would have been about 20 times MORE likely to happen to her in South Beach IMHO, I have spent a lot of time in both places.

I drive US flagged research vessels for a living, and I am sometimes tasked with carrying undergraduate students who act just exactly like .. Undergraduate students,.. when they get the chance to get off the boat. There are a couple of places where I impose an early curfew on the kids,(and the crew) Jamaica and Haiti. Everywhere else tends to be pretty safe.. there are populated islands in the Bahamas where there has NEVER been a murder, rape, or robbery. I think it is a good idea for kids to get exposure to other countries, so they don't grow up to be paranoid, ignorant xenophobes, who have idiotic opinions about 'those damn foreigners' based on a total absence of information (i.e. Ugly Americans)
So like most questions the answer to this is not simply black and white.. if you do your research, and your kid (and his/her friends) is responsible, I wouldn't hesitate to send them to many places in the Caribbean, and on the other hand, there are some places I would do anything I could to keep them from going (Montego Bay and Kingston come to mind). Though still statistically safer than having them sent to Iraq or Afghanistan if they were to join the military after school (I'm a combat Vet BTW)
But what do I know, I'm just some guy on the internet..

 

I just got back from my honeymoon in Aruba, and I have never felt safer. The police were very visible, and everyone seemed very friendly. There are always going to be bad people in the world, but the crime rate in Aruba is way below anything in the United States. They have 78,000 citizens, and last year had only 1 murder and 3 rapes. I heard that Cayman islands are just as safe also. I wouldn't go to Jamamica with everything I have read and heard about it! Way to dangerous!!

As for sending children, I don't know about that right now as I have no children. The thing that strikes me is how much it costs to go on trips like that! My parents didn't send me on Carribean trips!! I had to do Destin and pay for it myself! I just can't imagine sending my child on a $3K trip for graduating high school!! Maybe if they got a PHD, but highschool?!

 

All very true. But many of these parents who send there kids don't know which ones are safe and which ones are not. And when parents travel they often stay in better hotels and don't go to the bars that an 18 year old might venture into. Staying at the resort golf course or wandering into a local reggae club can give you two totally different pictures of what the safety of the locale is. I have been into several shady joints in the region and never been harmed, but came close a couple times. Would not keep me from visiting Caribbean in the future, I would just be smarter and more alert about what to look out for.

But having been to many islands myself I found that most allow kids into bars and at any bar most of the kids will be offered drugs. That combined with the fact that they figure they are far from home and no one is watching........ who knows.



Just two other little stories about my time in Jamaica neither all that interesting but I am bored,

The NAVY guy at my hotel claimed to be Navy intelligence and he told us that the Navy had several surveillance photos of tons of pot being loaded onto russian ships. I guess the Ruskies like a little geef every now and then. We saw a russian freighter in a coastal harbor with the big old hammer and sickle on it, just a boat but gives you the Stalin heebie geebies to see it up close. Too many Bond movies I guess.

The other was that two Minnesotans were killed while I was down there, shot while being robbed on a late night walk on the beach. Ochos Rios I think. Anyway we were talking with a local about it at the hotel and he told us a story about that the locals did not care for gay tourists that much. He said a couple locals caught two guys holding hands and walking down the beach and apparently beat the crap out of the. I have never read about this in the news but he claimed they whacked one guys unit off with a couple sticks of sugar cane. Sounds a little far fetched but just a story.


And lastly, we rented a suzuki samuri to drive from Montiego Bay to Negril which was I think about 90 miles. The Navy dude told us that we might run into a couple places in the middle of nowhere where locals will come out of the woods and run into the street carrying bales of pot trying to get you to stop and buy some. He said "Don't stop, they will take your car and your wallets. Just keep going and they will get out of the way." Sure enough, a bunch of people spill out of the woods at one point and spill into the road with big bales of pot. I can't be sure of their intentions but we did not stop to find out. The Samuri was not made for performance driving.

 

[QUOTE=CaptainMike,Jun 21 2005, 07:05 AM] First of all, "The Caribbean" consists of around 20 totally DIFFERENT countries, some of which have per capita crime rates comparable to or higher than, Miami, L.A., N.Y.C., and some of which have crime rates approaching ZERO.. i.e. Much LOWER than ANY US metropolitan area. In the past 10 years I have been to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, USVI',s BVI's, Puerto Rico, Dominican Rep. Haiti, Caymans, Jamaica,Cuba, and around 60 islands in the Bahamas.(off the top of my head). What happened to that girl in Aruba would have been about 20 times MORE likely to happen to her in South Beach IMHO, I have spent a lot of time in both places.

I drive US flagged research vessels for a living, and I am sometimes tasked with carrying undergraduate students who act just exactly like .. Undergraduate students,.. when they get the chance to get off the boat. There are a couple of places where I impose an early curfew on the kids,(and the crew) Jamaica and Haiti.

 

Funny how the news has not focused on this story since a judge's son is the prime suspect. I wonder if they initiated a gag order?

BTTT
I think the world is dangerous, any place can become a crime scene so to think the islands, or etc is the ONLY place that teenagers should not go by themesleves is about as crazy and OJ and Berretta going to jail and sharing a cell.

 

listen it's unfortunate what happened to that girl in Aruba, but would she have left a club in Alabama with 3 strangers? would her friends let her leave with 3 strangers in the US? even though you are on vacation or in a foreign country, you have to maintain your wits, and be aware of you surroundings and circumstances.

to lump the caribbean all together in one big grouping and label them as crime ridden is ridiculous. as unfortunate as this incident is, it is the first time it has ever happened there. as some one mentioned before, the per capita crime stats for most caribbean countries is much lower than most large to medium sized US cities.

tourist areas seem to attract a lot of petty criminals and pan handlers whether you are in Rome, Negril, Miami Beach.

i think what we should tell our children is that they need to be sensible where ever they go and avoid situations which could lead to trouble. talk to your kids about alcohol, so they don't go buck wild and over the edge with a little freedom. the "legal drinking age" in most of the caribbean is 18 (i was going to free drinks parties when I was 16 and still in secondary school)... it's a matter of common sense.