[chris330D]

My duaghter is 17 and her and her firends have booked to go to Greece on one of these. Have hit the roof as in my day these were all about sex and alcohol and not the sort of thing you would want your daughter involved in The other parents dont seem bothered and the travel agent has tried telling me that they have changed. Is this true? I can torpedo this as she booked without permission so the travel agent has broken the Ts and Cs but dont want to over react

[dxb335d]

Hmm, I dont have kids yet but I can see understand your concerns.

I think if she is a sensible kid she will be fine, if not then it could be a problem..

[phil200tdi]

Blatantly still all sex and alcohol.

I went 18-30 while 17, i'm still recovering now!!!

[KadeSdad]

Not a chance in hell. Doesn't matter if she's sensible or not, its the other fuckwits you can't control.

[dobbo99]

I would be thinking exactly the same. I also know my parents thought the same as they stopped me going when I was 17. I dont think I could stop my daughter from going ever, but maybe put her off a year or two so she is a bit more worldly wise. I went to Ibiza twice, 18 and 19.
I know I'd be thinking "I trust her, but I dont trust any of the potential people she might meet......"

I was trying to work out if this next part sounds too harsh, but from the fact your questioning the whole scenario makes me think that the family has morals and common sense, so if she was sensible then she should be able to have a good time with her friends, get drunk, chill by the pool and avoid male attention (there will be plenty of other classless teenage girls who will put out not even giving it a second thought).

[creepy coupe]

They can get sex and booze anywhere.

[nicktyler]

Blatantly about sex, alcohol, pier pressure and rugby team mentality! Hope this comes out the right way but booking the '18 - 30' holiday in the first place is not the actions of a sensible plan to sit by the pool and chill, there are plenty of other holidays for that.
Not to mention that I have never met a sensible 17 year old with 20 vodka shots in them. The pier pressure will get them in there quick no matter how sensible you were to start with!

Everything else said about the T's&C's and getting these things anywhere is also true

[Kerr]

Not a chance I would let my 17 year old daughter near an 18-30 holiday

Everybody knows exactly what goes on during these holidays.

The reps and fellow holidaymakers simply promote getting wrecked everyday and the sexual innuendo and pressure is high.

The stuff that goes on is pretty embarrassing but that's what seems to attract a certain type of person to the holiday.

[Boyd1963]

My middle daughter is 17 and is going to Majorca with her friend and her friend's parents. She is a bit of a party animal so I am quite worried about her even though the parents will be there. If she had asked to go on an 18-30 holiday the answer would definitely have been "NO".

[chris330D]

Thanks for the comments guys. Was worried I was over reacting and am conscious it's been a long time since I was 17 . She is sensible and doesn't drink but as has been said that doesn't cover for others and that's my worry. The good news is I can pull the plug. She has said that they only booked it because the hotel is cheap so I could offer to pay the extra for another hotel. I know you can't stop them getting into dodgy situations and ultimately it's up to them how they behave but 18-30 ffs seems to be asking for trouble.

[The_Bear_Yid]

I was in two minds about replying. I was going to say that an 18-30 is probably as bad as what you think but then thought how it'd be shit for your daughter to be the only one of her friends not to go. Ultimately 17 is young and how 'lively' it can be may be too much for her. The hotels they use usually have bad reviews for being rowdy at all times.

I was going to say she'd be eaten alive but thought that maybe wrong.

[Masterplan]

I don't tend to post much, but do lurk about daily.

I'm 22 years old, who until recently had never been on one of these type of holidays. All my mates had from 18 onward, and I never did. I felt I had to go last year given I was single and was my only real chance at a holiday. I learned one thing, morals and intuition seem to go out the window when people go on 18-30 holidays. Watching how it all unfolds is an eye opener. If I had a son, I wouldn't care so much. However, I would never let a daughter go on one of these types of holidays if I could stop her.

[Cyprio]

If she throws a hissy-fit show her this thread, she'll then understand why you feel the way you do. Then book her into somewhere nice and give her lots of extra cash.

[rogerxp]

Surely she can't go anyway, she doesn't yet qualify, she's not 18

Seriously, a very difficult dillema for you, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. You married - what's the opinion of t'other half??

[chris330D]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Surely she can't go anyway, she doesn't yet qualify, she's not 18

Seriously, a very difficult dillema for you, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. You married - what's the opinion of t'other half??

Exactly and what I meant by being able to stop it. My wife is/was furious and not at all happy with this. Can't win as we will be blamed for stopping her holiday with her friends on the other hand what's the worse that could happen on an 18-30 holiday ......... and thats what worries me

[davyk31]

Never been on one of these hols but agree with all the concerns here.

So what does go on, how bad does it get? I'm imagining there is more than the silly drunken games you see on the TV programmes about CLub Reps etc.

[rsmallwo]

I'm guessing when she goes, she will be 18. When someone's 18 there a legal adult, time you treat them like one I'm afriad. I don't suppose your going to be supporting her through university education are you?. If you where, I would allow this holiday on the previso that she contacts you at specific points in the holiday (you can be very specific) explain that its you that isn't ready to let go just yet etc etc and you would feel so much better if she could contact you at those points. The caviat would be that if she gets into legal trouble, takes drugs, doesn't contact you when she should be...you will most certainly pull the plug on uni support monies, deffo with no comprimise.

I think that's firm but fair in my book. I'm not a parent however...

[rogerxp]

To be fair, I've never been on 18-30's as such, but been on many similar types of holidays/bar-crawls. It is possible to fade into the background of these things, there are many more loud slags out there who crave the attention of undesireables, so if she's a sensible girl, and very importantly surrounded by other good kids, they should be just fine. Yes, they'll probably get very pissed and throw-up, but that doesn't mean she'll get up to what you fear (or worse not take precautions). She's basically an adult now, whether you see it like that or not, and you have to trust her (and her friends). It'll only be like freshers week (but with more sun!!).

I really do feel for you though. My Daughter is 5 on Saturday so have a good few years yet without having to deal with this. Still fear the day though.

[phil200tdi]

Some of the days/night of that holiday were like the 'hangover' movie!

18-30 is a rip off. When you get there they give the hard sell on tours, booze cruises and bar crawls. Ends up being twice as expensive as other hotels. The hotels are a state too.

Was fun though!

[Chris100]

Wouldn't be letting my daughter go if I had one, as already said but as she is almost an adult you risk pissing her off big time if all her friends are going. Good luck, just glad its not me making the choice.

[A_P]

Right ok CHRIS330D.

At first when I read your post I wasn't going to say anything, maybe a funny lil joke. But mate its not a laughing matter. I am all for letting a person grow, giving them good core values as a parent then allowing them (within reason) to make their own decisions. That being said I am 27. I am not the clubber type and have a small chain of small business (I dont have time to go out, and to be fair my interests have completely changed),

But..... when I was younger you could just say that I was the rebelious type, the sporty, popular, easy going type. I went 18 to 30 about 9 years ago. With my football team plus mates was a total 20 of us. It is crazy out there. If you have not been let me desribe it.

The main strip of road contains literally in this order.. pub.club.bar.pub.club.bar.pub.club.bar. both sides... all the way down. Mate there is just a huge party on the whole street, every club is open entrance so like you can freely walk in walk out... plus 90% of the clubs all were on the beach so you can walk in and walk straight through onto the beach. There is sex happening on the streets, in the clubs and on the beach, in the toilets actually im sure that you could not point out a square metre of paving where at any point in its history someone at some point did not have sex or do something sexual on it.

As a group we cleaned up every night. the slutty ( excuse language) and easy girls just offer it up on the plate, the girls with boyfriends and or sensible ones, were easy game to, all it took was a few days of hanging out a friendship and given the environment and mentality ( whats happens, stays here) and even the "oh i wont do anything stupid, i promise" girls were game.

It does not matter how smart or intelligent a girl your daughter maybe, there is always the chance that some guy somewhere will try his luck and that as a parent is acceptable to an extent. But sending your daughter who I can only assume is a nice sweet girl to a place which breeds lust and violence is just silly. If it was my daughter I would not let her go. If it was my son, I probably would talk him out of it.

Chris mate I dont have any kids, But I am married (as of last year). I do have a sister who has just finished uni, and if she ever asked me, then I would not let her go. Just think, I treat a girl like I would expect my sister to be treated, But I can tell you my friends weren't all the same. Man its just a crazy place.

Do your duty as a dad, take it from me and the other guys on here. Dont let her go. She might hate you for a while, but SHE WILL get over it.

Sorry for the long reply. I guess i like the people on this forum and well I just wanted you to get a feel for the place.

[Mike in Hampshire]

Our daughter is 13, so this is an issue for the fairly near future for me and Mrs M-I-H. Way I see it is this; we're responsible for her until she's 18. Until then, we'll do all we can, within reason, to keep her safe. Yes I know there's no guarantees, but we'd never forgive ourselves if we allowed her on a holiday like this and something went wrong.
I actually think in the long run she'll thank us for enforcing clear boundaries (despite massive sulks and tantrums in the meantime!). A clear "no way" from me.
Mike.