By Anna Schecter
Rock Center
UPDATE: Exchange organization ERDT, Educational Resource Development Trust, has released a statement in response to our reporting. Attorney Michael Sidley said the organization "never engaged in a cover-up of any sort...it was the conduct of ERDT which led to the arrest of Mr. Meyer."
Dozens of high school foreign exchange students have been raped, sexually abused, or harassed by American host parents in towns and cities across the country, an NBC News investigation has found.
In one of the most egregious cases, at least four exchange students were sexually abused over the course of two years by the same host father, even after the first victim sounded alarms.
“He said ‘this is American culture,’ and I should get used to it,” Christopher Herbon of Germany told NBC News in an exclusive interview broadcast on Rock Center.
The organization that placed them with the host father has been accused of orchestrating a cover-up to protect its reputation over the safety of the students.
Every year more than 25,000 teens from around the world come to America as part of a program overseen by the State Department that is hailed as an integral part of U.S. diplomacy.
Most of those teens have a great experience and cases of sexual abuse are rare. But NBC News’ investigation found two major flaws in the system. A lack of oversight can allow sexual predators to take advantage of the program. And when sexual abuse does happen, there is evidence that the students are sent back to their home countries with little or no support from the exchange organizations or the State Department.
There are more than 80 organizations that pay a fee to get the State Department’s stamp of approval as a "designated sponsor organization." That distinction allows the organizations to place the students with host families for one academic year. Each organization in turn must follow regulations designed to protect the students from harm.
The host families do not receive any compensation, but the students’ parents can pay more than $10,000 for their child’s year abroad. The largest organizations for which there are records take in an average of seven million dollars each year, according to an NBC News review of their Internal Revenue Service filings.
The more students they place, the more revenues for the organizations, and critics say the financial incentives create an environment ripe for abuse.
"These sponsoring agencies make a lot of money for each of these kids. The profit margin is very big, and they’re motivated to get them into some house, somewhere, without the proper vetting. So it's a perfect storm. It's sort of abuse waiting to happen," said attorney Irwin Zalkin, who along with attorney Andrea Leavitt represented Herbon and three other exchange students sexually abused by a host father and local coordinator for one of the organizations.
GUILLAUME’S STORY
In August 2003, the year before Herbon came to the U.S. as an exchange student, 18-year-old Guillaume L. of Belgium was excitedly packing for his American adventure. He asked that his last name not be used in print.
Guillaume’s parents paid the equivalent of $10,200 for their son's year abroad. A Belgian agency, World Education program, made the arrangements with an American organization called Educational Resource Development Trust, ERDT.
Photo Courtesy of Dennis Massingill
Guillaume L.
Guillaume was hoping to live in New York or Los Angeles, but instead ERDT placed him in run-down trailer in rural Arkansas. His host father was 34-year old Doyle Meyer.
Meyer, his then wife Gigi, and a former exchange student were sharing the cramped trailer when Guillaume moved in.
“When I first came there, I [had] a little bit of disappointment about the place … and I said to myself, ‘Well, you're here now. You just have to accommodate yourself and….make the best of it and take it,’” Guillaume said in an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Rock Center.
Guillaume said within a month of his arrival, Meyer started talking about sex, touching and hugging him, and unsuccessfully trying to get him to sleep in his bed with him.
“He would hug me, well, trying to hug me a lot. He would take my hands and he would ask me to lie on his chest when he was watching TV,” he said.
He said Meyer bought alcohol and marijuana for other exchange students living nearby, showed them pornographic films, encouraged them to show him their genitals and once measured a male student’s anatomy with his bare hand.
On a trip to Washington, D.C. with ERDT students and coordinators, Guillaume said Meyer allowed students to videotape two teens having sex, and watched the tape with them.
The students slept two to a bed in a local motel, and Guillaume said he was assigned to sleep in the same bed as Meyer, who tried to massage his stomach and touch his genitals. Guillaume said he jumped out of the bed.
Once back in Arkansas, Guillaume said he tried to report the molestation and Meyer’s irresponsible behavior to his local coordinator, Pat Whitfield. He said he set a time to meet with Whitfield, but she called Meyer and invited him to sit in on the meeting.
“So I couldn't say anything I wanted [to say]. But they were like best friends and [Meyer] went to talk to her first,” said Guillaume.
Guillaume said Meyer became intent on having him expelled from the program in order to silence him. He said Meyer reported him to ERDT executives for driving a car (against the program’s rules) and smoking marijuana, both of which Guillaume admits.
Photo Courtesy of Guillaume L.
Doyle Meyer
ERDT did expel Guillaume. Back home in Belgium, ashamed and shunned by his own family for being kicked out, he found the courage to write an email to ERDT staff detailing what happened to him and other students and warning them that something must be done to protect other students.
“I think that something must be done to stop that as fast as it is possible…because [one] day or another something bad is going to happen,” Guillaume wrote in the email.
After receiving the email, ERDT did not go to the police. Instead, the organization launched its own investigation led by staff who later admitted in a 2010 deposition that they had no experience with an investigation of alleged abuse.
“SWEPT UNDER THE RUG”
Plaintiff attorney Andrea Leavitt said ERDT circled the wagons, protecting the reputation of the organization over the safety of the students for whom the organization was responsible.
“There are no disclosures to parents for the children coming in. There are no disclosures to the kids. There are no warnings. Everything is swept under the rug, concealed. Absolutely every parent's nightmare,” Leavitt said. “They begin to circle the wagons. And rather than protect the vulnerable kid, they start to protect themselves from liability and exposure,” she said.
ERDT executive Kelli Jones wrote to her staff asking for anything “positive” they knew about Doyle Meyer as she was preparing a report for the Belgian exchange company, WEP.
In August of 2004, two months after Guillaume sent his email, Jones wrote to her staff saying that Meyer should know that ERDT “went to a lot of work, time, and energy to clear his name and support his good reputation.” She went on to disparage Guillaume, writing, “As far as I’m concerned it may not be over with yet. [Guillaume] may rear his ugly head again.”
ERDT decided Meyer should not be a host father the following year, but would remain working as a coordinator, whose job it is to supervise students.
According to fellow coordinator Theresa Benevides and host father David Krenn, Meyer was known as a “high placer,” meaning he was able to find an above-average number of families to host students.
“He placed almost 20 kids. He was very valuable to ERDT because he brought in so much money,” Benevides said.
A SECOND ROUND OF ABUSE
During the fall of 2004, Meyer served as 16-year old Christopher Herbon’s coordinator. Herbon said he was unhappy living with an unfriendly elderly couple with no children, isolated in a remote area. He told this to Meyer, and in early 2005 Meyer arranged for the teenager to move in with him. By this time, Meyer had separated from his wife and was living with another current exchange student on the outskirts of Little Rock.
Herbon said Meyer began to give him alcohol and Oxycontin shortly after he arrived. He said Meyer would press him to show him his genitals once he was intoxicated, and even gave him male enhancement pills.
“I was afraid that if I wouldn't make him happy, he would kick me out, and that I would be sent home. I didn't want to disappoint my parents. I was very afraid that he would send me home because my parents would be very disappointed,” he said.
In addition to Herbon, Meyer was sexually abusing other exchange students that academic year. When one of them finally told Benevides, she alerted the police and Meyer was arrested in May, 2005.
“KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT”
When word got out about the arrest, Benevides said ERDT executives flew to Arkansas and told the local coordinators not to speak about the abuse. She said at a meeting convened in Arkansas, Jones told her, “Keep your mouth shut.”
Meyer pleaded guilty to first degree sexual assault and served four of a six year sentence. When NBC News reached him by phone at his mother’s Arkansas chicken farm, he refused to comment on this story, saying that his parole was almost up and he wanted to move on with his life.
In a statement to NBC News, ERDT's lawyer, Michael Sidley said the organization "never engaged in a cover-up of any sort...it was the conduct of ERDT which led to the arrest of Mr. Meyer."
In 2010, attorneys Zalkin and Leavitt filed a civil suit against ERDT on behalf of Guillaume, Herbon, and two other students. ERDT settled the case for an undisclosed amount without admitting liability.
Kelli Jones, who has since been promoted to President of ERDT, declined to comment on this story. But in a 2010 deposition, she told Leavitt that she did not consider Guillaume’s account of Meyer’s behavior to be sexual abuse, but rather “immature idiotic boy behavior.”
The ERDT regional coordinator who handled the investigation is still in the same job. Whitfield, who was Meyer’s friend and fellow coordinator, was fired. She is now working for another exchange organization hosting and placing students in Arkansas. Whitfield declined to comment on this story.
STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDS THE PROGRAM
When asked why ERDT is still operational after a case like this, State Department spokesperson Toria Nuland said that ERDT was one of the organizations that helped the Department draft new regulations in recent years to better protect exchange students from abuse.
“They have been complying as we've strengthened the regulations with the improved standards, which is why we've kept them on our rolls. They themselves were horrified and victimized by this situation,” Nuland said.
In 2009 the State Department asked the Inspector General to investigate Youth Exchange Programs following a series of reports of mistreatment of exchange students.
The Inspector General’s scathing report found “insufficient oversight of the youth exchange programs at all levels.” It said communication among staff “borders on unprofessional,” there was a “lack of human and financial resources” in the office running the programs, and an “erroneous assumption” that the exchange organizations monitor themselves.
Nuland said that as a result, the Department increased staff overseeing the program, dropped a number of organizations from the list of designated sponsors, and implemented new regulations to more thoroughly check out host families.
In addition, Nuland said that before exchange students come to America, they now receive a package of information about their rights, and what they should do if they encounter any problems in the U.S. or problems with the host family.
“We are strengthening the checks on the front end, staying with the kids so intensely during the program,” she said.
The State Department did not have a central log of complaints until the 2009-2010 school year, but issued NBC News its data from the 2010-2011 year that showed sexual abuse or harassment was reported by less than one percent of the total number of high school students who spend a year at an American high school. They said that percentage includes any and all harassment, even if it did not involve a host parent.
“The vast majority of high school foreign exchange students have an enormously gratifying, rich, fantastic American experience that lasts with them for a lifetime,” Nuland said.
But problems in the program persist, and ERDT is not the only organization involved. Rock Center’s investigation found fourteen different organizations where students had alleged being sexually abused or harassed by a host parent. Several of the organizations have faced lawsuits for placing students in harm’s way.
Rock Center's broadcast includes an interview with a student who says he was sexually abused by his host father this past Christmas.
Nuland said that from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's point of view even one child abused under these programs is one child too many.
“Our standard has to be zero tolerance. So to the degree that which we still have cases reported we are not there yet. Are the reforms that we've put in place sufficient? I think we need to watch that over the next couple of months and see where it goes. But we are absolutely committed to continuing to tighten these regulations and improve this program until we get to zero.”
Editor's Note: Click here to watch Kate Snow's full report, Culture Shock, which aired on Rock Center with Brian Williams.
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Leave a Comment:
What else is new? Does this whole world Function,on Sexual Abuse,Money,Greed,Ignorance,and hiding it all?Does anyone do the Right thing anymore?If it isn't the "Mafia" Idiots,It's the "Cartel" Idiots.And all the People that Hide them,To become Drug,Addicts.Or to Addict Children to Drugs.Does it ever End?
Terrific. This abuse occurs under the Bush State Dept. but now the current administration gets caught up in the middle of this.
How about we just check the backgrounds of all the host families? That would have prevented this abuse.
.
No, it wouldn't. Their backgrounds would have been impeccable. 95% of sexual crime is committed by those who have no history at all of that type of offense. The idea that most sexual offending is committed by those already on a sex offense registry is nonsense, and law enforcement is the first to know that. Those on registries have extremely low recidivism, way down in single digits for almost all categories of sexual offending and for almost all registrants. Politicians and everyone who bothers to do any research know it also. The sex offender registry and a "tough-on-crime" stance have become such an income-generating business and a sure way to get elected position that those trying to get the truth to the public in general are out-shouted and out-lobbied by those who are benefiting, along with sincerely frightened parents who have been sold a bill of goods.
Who in hell wants to visit the US to live in rural AR? OMG, this sounds like a 1960's small town horror film.
So then Obama has nothing to do with this? How long has he been in office? I think Bush bashing is a little out dated. The current "Administration" has been in office long enough to be aware of problems in this program. I think you are outdated.
Blaming ANY administration is pointless, they have as much to do with this as the moon moving further away each year. stop losing focus on the real perps trying to blame a president. next you'll blame them for the pothole you hit on the way into work.
In other words, CEOs shouldnt be held responsible for their companies downfall??
If its a federal agency, the blame should be laid at the feet of the president, since not only they pick the dept heads but also key personnel.
Oh. I thought the State Department was a branch of the Government, my bad.
The detailed events happened in 2004 and 2005, before Obama was president. This means that the Bush administration should have done something about it. Apparently, something is being done now--though the person who wrote this article thinks it isn't enough. Clinton says they are tightening regulations with the goal of bringing the number of abused down to zero. So, again, how is Obama to blame for events that happened before he was elected? How is he to blame when he takes on an abysmal problem and cleans it up as quickly as it can be cleaned up--the state of a situation does not automatically become someone else's "fault" and no longer the "fault" of the person who caused it when the person who caused it is no longer around to clean up the mess.
A CEO is not to blame for things that his/her predecessor did. That CEO is only responsible for what s/he does; s/he might or might not be able to turn a company around, and s/he would be responsible for unsuccessful efforts; but s/he cannot be responsible for things that happened before s/he was CEO, and we should remain aware that the problems created by the predecessor might have been insurmountable.
Seriously--if you can't get your head around this simple point, please don't vote.
Samnet40
Look a the year this incedent happened. 2003 & 2004. Bush administration.
But in 2009, the state department under the Obama administration conducted an investigation and decided to step up oversight of the program.
Though I would agree that things happen, and trying to blame an administartion for it is really reaching, if you are going to blame an administration, at least look to the one that was in charge at the time.
what's with everyine referring to these people as "perps"......watching wayyyyyy too much Law And Order/CSI
This is horrible to have an organization that is supposed to be about the welfare of exchange students, but is really about keeping their funding, and they bury abuse allegations INSTEAD of investigating them. WE would be raising all kinds of hell if these were Americans being abused abroad!
UnitedStates 1776 - You are alot like O'Bama - when you find a problem you just blame it on the prior President. If you would had read the article (if you can if fact read) you would find that this abuse was not reported to the State Department until recently. Hillary is Secretary of State in the O'Bama Administration. It is her job to correct this problem and not just give substance-free speeches like O'Bama. Since all the publicity on the abuse issue, O'Bama may finally be forced to actually do something instead of blaming someone else.
2 words...F^ckin' Sickning!
FJC: what's with everyine referring to these people as "perps"......watching wayyyyyy too much Law And Order/CSI...
OK, how's about PERVS.....?
He shore do gotta purty mouth don't he?
And we just thought this was a movie.....!!
If you had read the article you would have seen that there was State Dept log on abuse complaints until the 2009-2010 school year. No wonder there is no record of previous complaints. But don't let the facts get in your way of blaming Obama for everything that has ever gone wrong.
Moron, the abuses happened under President Bush, long before President Obama took office.
CEOs should be held accountable for the downfall of an ENTIRE company. This hardly rises to that level. This is one very small part of the State Department. If one or two people are stealing parts from the assembly line to sell at the flea market and get caught, their supervisor/manager fires them. If the supervisor/manager is in on it and gets caught, his manager fires him and so on and so on. To think that the scheme of putting these children in questionable situations originated at the top levels of the administration is a REAL stretch of the immagination. However, if my assesment is wrong and yours is right, then every U.S. President EVER elected should have been punished or impeached after their first year in office as there has, is and always will be some part of this government that's broken in one way or another.
I was more than a little shocked that Meyer's sentence for first degree sexual assault was only 6 years in prison, which was reduced to 4. I couldn't find any specifics about Alabama's penal code for sexual assaults, but is this normal?
Maybe putting the students in a trailer park isn't the brightest idea. It should have raised a red flag and the agency should have checked it out first. Just saying, nothing against trailer park folks, trailer parks just seem to host a lot of questionable people.
I knew somewhere along the way this would wind up being Bush's fault.....The blame Bush game is getting old. Lets play something else already! Geez.
Yes, this is pretty ugly, but there is a flipside to this. My brother and his wife had a Russian/Ukraine girl about 17/18 as a AFS student. They have been having AFS students for years and years. Anyway this Russian girl had it in her head to get pregnant ASAP so she could stay in the US. She was a slut looking for a sugar daddy and a free ride any way possible. So, these kids aren't all innocent little gems.
This case and others against children being subjected to sexual abuse are horribly sickening! It is time to clean house from the top down and much too late to sweep it all under the rug.
Thank you, Brian, for doing this story. All who had knowledge of these terrible acts should be charged as accessories to these monstrous acts and be held criminally liable.
What's with the peekaboo picture of the boy in question peering seductively from behind a rock?
Actually, Myer lives in Arkansas... But the two are interchangable...
The blame should land where the money goes. Safety always costs more!! it costs money to put student safeguards in place. If there were no investigations against teh host "father"who brought so many host families to the organization, it was only because of the money. Only those of us are concerned enough to write comments here, would be concerned more for the welfare of someone else's kids than our company's profits. Shame on those compaines!
LOL, the Obama haters can pick any story out of the news and spin it to make it his fault....
Ya'll soo entertaining, and you are only fooling yourselves...
Three words.
Homes
with
wheels
The article pointed out that many of the private organizations that "sponsor" exchange students are for-profit and make huge profts off of the kids (the ten-grand the Belgium family paid probably broke down to nine-grand going to the business and one-grand being spent on the student). So the incentive, as the article points out, is to turn this operation into a mill to get as many kids placed with exchange "parents" as possible, including the worst possible "parents" to maximize profits.
The solution? No longer allow for-profit businesses to do this. Have only non-profit ones. But even those much be watched very closely.
What does it say about capitalism that in so many cases, money trumps what is right? It is disgusting to me that ERDT executives are not in jail for covering up the abuse. The only recourse is to sue the heck out of them until they are no longer in business. Very sad...
Meyers and agencies who place these children in homes that are not required or have the responsibility to ensure their safety are to blame, not Bush or Obama. Both presidencies have had this problem and the article said a child was molested this past Christmas. So the problem persists. Do something about it, don't play the blame game.
I think there might have been an earthquake during the Bush administration, can they find a way to bring that up as his fault? OH, wait, that won't work there have been more natural disasters all over the world since Obama has been in office.
Hey, people ! It is secondary under whose Presidency this happened and there is no evience that it did not continue after the new administration took over. It is abdominable and inexcusable ! Wait until the international press gets hold of this ! Of course, everything will be generalized and it will be , once again, the "terrible US." I cannot imagine how terrible it must have been for the students. I sincerely hope that there will be some drastic changes and that someone capable will be put to oversee this program. Would an inspection of the premises be too much ?
Someone mentioned an Ukrainian girl. Yes, there are those. But that does not condone the State Department cavalierly overlooking these boys' agony.
Disgusting and dispiccable ! Those boys deserve a compensation and I hope their parents got their money back.
Just as troubling is that, Christopher Herbon, the abused German student, was informed correctly by his abuser. Indeed, ‘this is American culture.’ All one has to do is look at the percentage of U.S. kids - mostly girls - who are raped by family. If I were a foreign parent of a teen, I wouldn't let my kid anywhere near the U.S. American men are some of the sickest on the planet.
http://www.rainn.org/statistics
Shelly Stow said:
The sex offender registry and a "tough-on-crime" stance have become such an income-generating business and a sure way to get elected position that those trying to get the truth to the public in general are out-shouted and out-lobbied by those who are benefiting, along with sincerely frightened parents who have been sold a bill of goods.
I had a run-in some years back with a guy on the sex offender registry. Came up behind me and stuck his hand between my legs, grabbed my privates, and when I yelled he took off running. I chased him along the road for nearly a mile before the cops (with whom I was on my cellphone throughout the chase) finally caught up with us, and they said because he didn't make an attempt to remove my clothes it wasn't considered a sexual assault. They took his info, gave it to me and told me to file a complaint with the court commissioner the next day to have him appear in civil court to answer the charges. So I went the next day and the court commissioner told me he was a registered child sex offender, did 10 years in jail for molesting a little girl, got out and picked me six months later.
The case was escalated to criminal court since his fondling of me was a sex assault (and the fact that he turned and attacked me with his cane while I was chasing him is construed as assault and battery). His wife came to court with a lawyer who said he was mentally incompetent. Six months later the judge declared him competent to stand trial and gave him ten years for 4th degree sex assault, aggravated assault and battery and a concealed weapon (he had a switchblade in his pocket at time of arrest with a blade longer than is allowable in our municipality.
Eight months later his conviction was overturned because they said since I wasn't a minor (although I do look young; I'm 5', 120 pounds, wear size 3 little girl sneakers,and he never saw my face, just saw two braided pigtails in back, and the day I was assaulted I had borrowed a pair of my niece's jeans) it wasn't a reflection off his prior bad act and the eight months he'd already served were sufficient for the concealed weapon, assault and battery charges. The 4th degree sex assault was wiped from his record.
So his recidivism rate is zero even though he did re-offend. Statistics are all well and good, but statistics can be wrong.
Stories like these are why I would never send my teenager abroad to live in an unknown place with people I don't know...It's sad, but, paranoia is the only way to protect our children these days.
Is it too politically incorrect to say that they shouldn't be allowed to place kids with poor white trash living in a trailer park?
To Ryan in Wisconsin---this happened in Arkansas, not Alabama. You might want to read the article again.
Posted by Samnet:
I think Bush bashing is a little out dated.
You think that Bush-bashing is a little out-of-date??? Heck, where I grew-up, Detroit and Cleveland, it is still common to bash Reagan and GW's dad too. In fact, there are those people who are still angry with President Nixon for Vietnam and Watergate too.
Kind of odd how the best years of my life were the Carter and Clinton years, and when the Republicans are in power, there has always been economic h*ll to pay where I am from. That is what free-speech is all about though, much as some conservatives would like to do away with it too. Yes, this scandal started during GW's time in office, an eight-year period of our common history already well known for a general lack of oversight while many of the President's closest supporters got filthy rich.
On the subject of childhood sexual abuse, there are several organizations that offer understanding recovery support online. Male Survivor.org is a professional organization operated by a committee of experienced childhood sexual abuse therapists, several of whom appeared on Oprah Winfrey's two shows about childhood sexual abuse in the Fall of 2010. Male Survivor offers a 24-hour online support forum for adults aged 18 and over, which has an MSW onsite that runs a couple of focused online recovery groups, and they also operate a half-dozen intensive recovery weekends each year in the US and Canada for adult survivors.
Another support organization for victims age 21 and over Men Thriving.org, which also operates a 24-hour discussion forum, and another organization that offers crisis counseling during evening hours in the Eastern Time Zone is 1 in 6.org.
Recognized therapist Mike Lew also operates a number of weekend and single-day recovery events around the world and he can be found at Next Step Counseling.org, and another well-known therapist with several recovery books to his credit is Mic Hunter, PH.D, in St. Paul, MN. If you are a teen suffering current abuse it is best to call the police or talk to a counselor at your school, though Male Survivor and 1 in 6.org will try to refer you to available help. Here in Denver the Wings Foundation offers therapy and support to both male and female victims too.
Actually, it has been during the time that President Obama has been in office that Oprah Winfrey's two shows on the subject were aired, and there has been a great deal more awareness of this subject, and much more in the way of qualified crisis and recovery resources made available then there was during the time that the previous administration in Washington served.
Now I don't know if we can give President Obama credit for the amount of progress made over the last few years in this field, but at least the victims of this current scandal and victims of childhood abuse in general have far more in the way of resources available to turn to than was previously the case just a few years ago.
There is no need to continue to suffer in silence any longer.
This proves my point. The government does NOTHING well, and now some other government agency, probably filled with more incompetent baffoons, are in charge of my health care??
You political ideologues on both sides of the fence make me laugh. Still so busy trading insults back and forth and pointing fingers...rather than actually attempt to resolve the real problem here.
I wish you would all grow up, but that's impossible. It takes intelligence and wisdom in order to be mature...two things that the human race exceedingly lacks in the majority of its population.
Here's a few hints for you folks on both sides of the political aisle though.
1. Most of us don't give a damn about who was in office or is in office. We care about something being done to end this kind of abuse. So shut up with the "It's Obama's fault" or "It's Bush's fault" crap. BOTH SIDES are at fault ok? Grow up and deal with it already.
2. A problem like this arises because of two primary things. First, you have organizations that make a lot of money to sponsor these kids, so they're not going to rock the golden boat. Second, you have a government agency that is supposed to oversee this, but government is woefully inadequate and incompetent as a general rule, so what do you expect?
Good luck finding a real fix to this problem. It requires competent, intelligent oversight and management. Two things that are rarely found in anything run by human beings.
The USA has become an absolute cess pit.
I can't live here anymore. It's beyond embarrassing -- it's just plain disgusting.
I was trying to read this thread, and then it became presidential commentary, which just shows how braindead americans are now, completely fixated on "the one guy" who runs the free-world. if you were president, would you spend .0000001% of your time worrying about foreign exchange students, why do you think the real president does. the executive branch of the government is a monster, not a company, there is no ceo, there is no bright mind trying to make sense of it all at the top, it is just a mess, that is why you should support Ron Paul who wants to bring government back down to the role given to it in the constitution. this message brought to you by the supporters of Ron Paul
BIG DEAL! It doesn't matter WHAT administration was in office.
Why aren't these kids being checked on while they are here? Or ours over there somewhere?
Once is all it takes. If the kids are not happy there, get them OUT!
I wouldn't want MY kids in a home where someone is abusing them, sexually or any other.
BTW, a friend of mine hosted a lovely little girl from Germany a few years ago. What an awesome experience to learn about her culture and traditions.
It should always be an exceptional experience for all involved in these exchanges...not something to be regretted or traumatized by.
United States 1776. It would be interesting to know if background checks were actually completed on host families. If they are not routinely done for families wanting to host exchange students, then they should be. Those students families certainly want to know that their children are safe.
As an ESL teacher whom is asked by my students all the time if they should go overseas to America -I feel horrified by this. Hopefully this is a very small percentage. However, I feel those host families should be strung up. I don't care who administration this was under it is embarrassing as an American. More than that, I can't even express my rage at this.
Yes, it is hard to be proud of your nation when kids who are only trying to learn about another culture get entangled in this perversion, cruelty, and selfishness. Just embarrassing, horrifying, and shameful on our part. I hate this, it will be hard to recommend that any kid go to my home country until they really take more precautions to cull this aberrant behavior.
This is a case where the students were not told the first thing about America and who to contact if there is criminal behavior going on.
FIRST: go to the F.B.I. (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the local police, and make a complaint. This can be done by any child (especially a high-school age child), and you don't need to bring company representatives or the molesting criminal. If you are not sure how to go about it, also tell a school teacher or other adult that you trust outside of the company that placed you with the abusive family.
The State Department should be notified too, but they seem to have been accessories to these crimes. The State Department is involved in diplomacy, and obviously not crime investigation. The American government, no matter who is in charge, is divided into departments. Crime investigation is not done in all departments.
However, the State Department should be involved if a student is very dissatisfied with their placement. And there should not be terrible punishments if a student is dissatisfied, especially at the cost to the students, which is outrageous considering that these homes were not checked at all. All of these exchange students, not only the crime victims, should get their money back if there is no oversight.
But why are these victims of sexual abuse named in this article, and not all the perpetrators?
I'm not up on exchange student rules but since when are exchange students placed with childless couples and single men? Seems odd that you'd place a teenager with someone with no parenting experience.
I thought that the familes had to have children who have, will be, or are attending the school which the exchange student is placed. One easy way to solve this problem is to stop letting exchange students stay with the aforementioned childless couples and single people. The children of the host family should have children in the public school system. The host family's children should be interviewed about their home life. and then once a thorough background check is conducted ,only then should they be allowed to take in a child who's family and support network lives thousands of miles away.
UnitedStates1776
That is about the most juvenile comment I have ever read on Newsvine.
Do you blame burned out light bulbs on him too ?
Yep. Lot of comments in here saying how much people are disgusted by the events that have been happening in this country. I can see it. It seems to me like people have changed now, just the humanity people once had in this country is gone now. People right now seem so different since the year 2000. It at least seem to me that was the last time people had anykind of human kindness about themselves. Well when I go back to the yr. 2000 and try to think about the changes this country's been through since then ok, maybe thats the problem here now. This country has been through way too much in such a short period of time its starting to catch up with everyone now and some of these people aren't taking it very well. I can't say I can blame them, I'm not wearing their shoes. I do know its a lot more than needed to be and now the whole country is paying for it. The economy, the wars, people losing invested money they worked for their whole life to retire, theres a lot thats happened to this country and the reason I say 2000 because the economy was still good and I can still remember people being happy then. Not now, its everyone for themselves and nothing matters how they get it either, like theres nothing left to lose, going for broke now. Wow what a shame the changes this poor country has been through in a short 12 years. The light at the end of the tunnel is temporarly out of service right now. Until government starts acting like it should again its only going to get worse. Maybe once again we'll see that light at the end of the tunnel and I hope we do. It wouldn't take very much for it to come back on again. People need to start working together again and that light will come back on. I see and read that if this country tried a lot harder to make a go at things again, 18 months and that light will be shinning at the end of the tunnel for everyone again. Get rid of the people that keep saying NO. Its time for the YES people to take charge again. Obama and a democratic house is needed real bad right now. Straight Democratic ticket in 2012, if you want to see the light come back on in this country.
What once were vices are now habits............
There would be no news story if the situations taking place were committed by two consenting adults........see the hypocrisy. It's dirty business no matter who's doing it, you can lable a bad egg "GRADE A" on the outside but is still rotten on the inside. Though it seems shocking now, the way things are going stories like this won't even raise an eyebrow in a generation or two.....we live in perilous times!
I know of one child who wasn't sexually molested or anything remotely like it...but she went to North Carolina on an exchange and lived with a rather wealthy family. Within days she was babysitting, housecleaning, not given the opportunity to travel or go sightseeing. It was like hell for her. At home she had the freedom to go most anywhere by tram or bus since she was 14 years old. Here she was at 17 in the USA and not allowed to leave the house with out and escort. The only real thing she got out of the experience was her bond with the family's 5 year old daughter with whom she was forced to spend so much time with.
There are all kinds of motivations that people have for their own selfish purposes.
Most connected with religious organizations will top the list.
But the details will be last to come out as they are experts in hiding their crimes using some religious opiums!
I apologize for misspeaking. I had just read a story about the Alabama primaries and had that in my head.
I meant to say Arkansas. Of course.
This is disgusting. I had the great pleasure of being an exchange student with a wonderful family a long time ago. It was a fabulous experience for me that changed how I viewed the world forever. This is how it should be for all the kids that come to this country, and if people can't figure out they are placing kids with sexual preditors, they should be put out of business. There is no excuse for this, none whatsoever. Background checks should be performed on all who apply to have kids with them, especially after something like this has been brought to light. There should also be a system where the students can feel safe about going to the agency and requesting a different environment or reporting the incidents they are going through. That was in place when I participated. This is so disappointing to read about.
Hmmm, America is a lot more dangerous country now than before. Why is this? Because of the diversity of people here. Ironic isn't it?
Abuse of anyone let alone a child is wrong. I have traveled throughout the US and have found that there are millions of decent Americans living here. Some may have opinions that differ from mine but for the most part they are law abiding and a reasonable lot. What I have found is that the culture of victims has become pervasive. More people are now exploiting whatever opportunity they can to use as leverage for personal gain. I had a German exchange student living in my home. He was the most arrogant 17 year old I had ever met. Stephan disregarded the Agency rules and our house rules. He patronized my wife and damaged household items and the car (thought it was fun to run across the top of the car). We talked to him several times. His response was indifferent and when I told him that I was going to talk to his father in Germany (a physician) he said that he did not worry about it because he can control his parents. After 6 months of this kid's attitude I called the Agency and asked them to remove him from our home. I suspect that this kid was an exception but I will never allow another foreign exchange student live with us.
So let me get this straight. You are so willing to blame this on religious organizations when the people who are most likely to abuse these children probably are atheists or have no affiliation with organized religion at all? You need to go back into hiding.
This clearly was dereliction of duty on the part of the people connected to the State Department. There are 99% of the employees of the State Department busting their backs and even working in dangerous conditions overseas to better the relations with the rest of the world. And then this ?!
Since our tax Dollars paid for this program, we should all write to the State Department and express our disgust and insist that those people be removed and some changes implemented. I hope those poor boys get a free trip around the USA, with their parents. I am as embarrassed as you all are !
Too many kids want to roam the world.
Ah yes, because there's something wrong with wanting to experience cultures other than your own.
I've traveled around quite a lot and experienced other cultures. So I speak from experience when I quote one of my favorite lines from SLC Punk:
Dumbest comment I've heard today, but it's early yet.
All I have to say is adult chauffeur!
Sees the world thru gloss eyes, I get it. Living with your mom in her basement is way better, then stepping out to experience the world. It's so damn dangerous. But you may want to lay down the PS3 controller, and the wireless keyboard.
So they deserved it or somehow at fault ?
If only Columbus or Magelin would have just stayed home....
Ray Butt, I think I got your intent, but your comment is pretty dumb too. Unless you actually heard see thru gloss say those words. Just saying.
If your children aren't mature enough to stand up to pressure to get involved in illicit sex, drugs, and alcohol, then they have no business roaming halfway around the world to live with a complete stranger.
These exchange programs have been in place for decades and many have very good records. This travesty will reflect poorly on them all.
ANY attempt to blame the students is completely misguided. They should be given safe places to live. If they are placed with families who were hoping for free babysitters, free housecleaners, foreign language instructors or under-aged sexual partners, they should be protected from them.
I always thought the fees paid were used to reimburse the school districts for accepting the exchange student. I can't see any reason why this program should be one run for profit.
My family hosted a student from Nottingham, England during the Spring of 1975, and our student was able to attend a large upscale suburban Detroit high school and even enjoy a ten-day driving trip to western North Carolina, Disney World, and to Daytona Beach, and the worst abuse that he suffered was a little front seat disagreement between my parents on that trip.
In my own opinion, the foreign exchange program at the high school level provides an excellent opportunity, and hopefully since this scandal involving a few bad apples has come to light, there will be a little more oversight as well as the involvement of a qualified abuse counselor too.
If you are someone suffering from your victimization as a kid, or if you are a kid in need of crisis help, see my post #1.39 above.
To think the bastard only spent 4 years in jail. He damaged not just those young people but the reputation of an entire nation.
1. Do an extensive background check which include, financial, criminal, security, credit score, Facebook/social media, etc on the Organizations and organizations employees and especially on the host families period.
In otherwards do the background check that the State and Federal government do on their prospective employees- and do it on all family members that will come in contact with the exchange student.
These organizations and host families are representing our government. They are supposedly being the face and family of the USA. Diplomats get vetted therefore these host families should be vetted in the same way as diplomats and other State Department employees. Either that or stop this program period.
Is this sort of background check/vetting going to be done....? Who know but I would not hold my breath on it.
We are now living in a country where those with the loudest voices are screaming how this country was set up on christian principles and how it is christian blah blah blah but who are so far from being christian as we are from Mars or any other deep space planet out there. We have been reduced to being a nation of 'do as I say not as I do' people, who will trot out the christian/religiousity and constitution thing when it suits whatever purpose that is trying to be sold to the masses, by these religiousity folks who view religion as just another capitalist dream imo.
2. If a program is set up, then fund it well and run it well making sure that there are the appropiate rules, regulations and OVERSIGHT in place. Which ever govt dept that set this program in motion should provide serious oversight and with serious consequences for infraction or breaking of the rules and regs.
But then with all the constant call to get rid of rules, regulation and oversights by the T'pubcondinos with even defunding, underfunding of programs to get their way, what did anyone expect? Self policing does not work period.
3. These exchange students should go through training/inservice program in their home country and which should include who to call first under these circumstances. They should be told to call 911, the State Dept, the FBI, their home country's Embassy, and to call their parents as soon as such an activity occurs. They should also have an emergency cell phone and a international calling card just incase they cannot get cell signal where they are located.
4. The parents of these exchange students should also take responsibility for their child and should require the child to call home weekly or they call their child weekly. The old trust but verify should be their mantra. If the child is immature or have issues, these programs are not the way to go to try to straighen him/her out or anything else. Parents should talk to other parents who have had their children participate in these programs and even the child too, as they need to realize they are sending their child to people they do not know, or know about. Parents should seriously check out the placement organizations too. This may be an experience of a lifetime for this child but may not be the experience you want the child to have and which will impact the child for a lifetime.
5. The USA is a big country and not everyone is that helpful upright citizen, nor is this country like it is portrayed in the movies, nor are all the host families going to be like some "Leave it to Beaver" or "Cosby Family" etc either. There are closet pedofiles out there and everywhere in the world. The only way these pedofiles are outed is when they are reported.
All that being said... can't understand the family of that boy who was shunned by his family when he returned home after his ordeal.....
Peace.....
Frank, I couldn't agree more. The recidivism rate for sexeual predators is reported as high as 95%; he will abuse again.
Alice: Abuse of anyone let alone a child is wrong and am sorry if these kids were abused. I have traveled throughout the US and have found that there are millions of decent Americans living here. Some may have opinions that differ from mine but for the most part they are law abiding and a reasonable lot. What I have found is that the culture of victims has become pervasive. More people are now exploiting whatever opportunity they can to use as leverage for personal gain. I believed in the exchange student concept and had a German exchange student living in my home. He was the most arrogant 17 year old I had ever met. Stephan disregarded the Agency and school rules and our house rules. He patronized my wife and damaged household items and the car (thought it was fun to run across the top of the car). He would also bully the kids in school. We talked to him several times. His response was indifferent and when I told him that I was going to talk to his father in Germany (a physician) he said that he did not worry about it because he can control his parents. Later I found that he was carrying a knife with a 6 inch blade to school. After 6 months of this kid's attitude I called the Agency and asked them to remove him from our home. I suspect that this kid was an exception but I will never allow another foreign exchange student live with us.
I still am unable to comprehend same sex sexual abuse, i mean YUCK!
But other types of sexual abuse are comprehensible? Your comment makes no sense.
It makes perfect sense to me. The only reason he "can't comprehend" it is because he's obviously homophobic......come on
"I still am unable to comprehend same sex sexual abuse I mean YUCK!".....sounds like the words of a bigot.
Morlak or Moron!
Isis and Brooke, so you can comprehend same sex sexual abuse? Why is morlak a moron and a bigot? WTF, even I can't comprehend same sex or straight sex sexual abuse for that matter.
That was their point, punisher...they can't comprehend ANY abuse, but apparently Morlock, based on his post, can. It's just the same sex abuse he has a "yuck feeling" about...
"You people" probably nit-pic your spouses to death! What, you think your own ignorance is less than what you are attempting to point out about others? Shallow...would be better just to keep the keyboard's mouth shut.
We're allowed to point out the flaw in his argument, and if that means getting bashed by you, fine.
Why don't you post an intelligent argument rather than attacking posters who ARE in agreement.
They were just trying to teach about American Catholicism
Will you please, please get over bashing the Catholics already!!! As is clear from this article and how many other articles about the American public school system - it goes on everywhere and anywhere! No one is immune - any teachers in your district? any coaches? any preachers in other churches in your neck of the woods? any parents downloading child porn while their children sleep in the other room?
Did you see the headline about the human trafficking - 1000's have been recently freed but what about those from years prior? And those still out there?
The Catholics have managed to clean up their acts - bankruptcies to prove it - and will face critics like forever. BUT - until we can stop with the cheap 'jokes' we won't be helping other children.
In light of what went on in the Catholic Church, I am surprised that every single agency that deals w/ children wasn't examining their own files and checking their own members. But, clearly, that type of forward thinking and preemptive work is too much for most organizations.
...really? Mr. young1....bigoted hater........
American Catholicism? but they were protestant trailer scum like you.
Imagine the world without the Catholic church or any religion for that matter. I sure can.
Churches operated schools, orphanages and hospitals long before the secular world did. Anti-religious and non-religious governments and political ideologies have brought misery to the world. Clearly, an absence of churches and religions in the world would do little to keep humans from acting badly. or do you envision a world without non-religious organizations, governments and political systems too?
Ask the people of Ireland about church operated schools, orphanages etc.
Used to live in Ireland. The Christian Brothers come to mind, as well as the Priests. Seems to be a lot of pervs in the Church.
Good One!
Imagine the wonderful impression of the USA these kids take home with them.
These programs are an excellent chance to show the world that the USA is not evil. Instead the programs are quite literally perverted into proving the opposite.
The US needs a better reputation, but instead we keep having people in our society that prove that the bad rep is deserved.
Its only that 1 % that cause all the problems.
I went overseas over 25 years ago as an exchange student and the same thing was happening to exchange students abroad at that time. I had a great year, but vowed my kids would never have the same opportunity - it is just too risky. Little oversight in the organizations and a desire to shove issues 'under the rug' allow for opportunities for kids to get abused/hurt. It is disappointing to read that things are the same in the United States' exchange programs 25 years later.
Scientist1 - I hope your comment was an attempt at sarcasm. if not, it shows you are narrow minded and mis-informed.
Well, we cannot keep those people out of our society, but darned, we can and must keep them from having contact with these vulnerable guests of ours.
If those in charge are too lazy to ensure that these kids are well taken care of, then they should be fired ! Fired ! Fired ! I hope the parents know that they could get a large settlement . I am not for milking the system, but in this case, as you can see, I am all for it ! I hope this Mayer guy is blacklisted by now. Follow up, writers ! Do !
Know wonder other countries people hate us here in the USA!
They should watch our news and educate themselves and they would see we have just as many weirdoes, pervs/thieves, thug's and killers as any other place. We just have a system that allows the guilty to be tried and the victims to have to endure and hope the predator gets the punishment he or she deserves. Unfortunately that does not always happen either.
American Exceptionalism at it's finest!
Ron, would you explain what you mean by this? Where is your proof of this serious accusation?
I have 3 german "daughters" that were exchange students in my home. You have no idea what you're talking about!
Germany is much safer than the United States. We have about 5 times as many murders per capita than they do. I tell my European friends not to visit the US because it is super dangerous.
Living in Europe is so much more comforting than living in the states. It is so nice not hearing about a murder on the news every night, because there haven't been any. It is also perfectly safe to walk home by myself at 3am. There are pickpockets here, but they don't rob you with a weapon.
Elpea, that has been my impression of Germany and other parts of Europe. I am still not sure what Ron is saying. :(
Perhaps not, but neither do you Ron. Is your conclusion about Germany based on three exchange students you hosted? That makes no sense. If you are trying to say they were permiscuous, then, that is not a reflection on their country. Furthermore, if whatever they did was by their free will, then you can't compare it to someone being abused by an adult. Can you see the difference?
Siobhan, you got Ron and the other Siobhan's post mixed up. What's the chances of there being two Siobhans?
There are thousands of Russian and Ukrainian young girls kidnapped or coerced into believing they are going to come to Germany for a better life. Either in childcare or as a domestic employee. Then they are forced into prostitution. When they do get free they can't go home because they are disgraced so they end up homeless or continuing as a prostitute until they are dead or worthless.
So if you don't value these young girls lives, then yes, you can say Germany has no sex crimes.
Google it if you don't believe me. It is the fastest growing crime statistic in the world...right here in Germany!
Abuse of anyone let alone a child is wrong and am sorry if these kids were abused. I have traveled throughout the US and have found that there are millions of decent Americans living here. Some may have opinions that differ from mine but for the most part they are law abiding and a reasonable lot. What I have found is that the culture of victims has become pervasive. More people are now exploiting whatever opportunity they can to use as leverage for personal gain. I believed in the exchange student concept and had a German exchange student living in my home. He was the most arrogant 17 year old I had ever met. Stephan disregarded the Agency and school rules and our house rules. He patronized my wife and damaged household items and the car (thought it was fun to run across the top of the car). He would also bully the kids in school. We talked to him several times. His response was indifferent and when I told him that I was going to talk to his father in Germany (a physician) he said that he did not worry about it because he can control his parents. Later I found that he was carrying a knife with a 6 inch blade to school. After 6 months of this kid's attitude I called the Agency and asked them to remove him from our home. I suspect that this kid was an exception but I will never allow another foreign exchange student live with us.
Leavitt did not believe La Meyer was abusive? And promoted too? Seems much more needs to be looked into besides the Catholic Church affair.
Tiger's the Man, it is not just that some do not believe you, it is that most prefer to view the matter of child sexual prostitution in denial. Also, it sure is not only in Eastern Europe.
fgh- actually, Tiger was describing what is happening in Germany. The women/girls were kidnapped from Eastern Europe and Russia. Crime in Germany is indeed increasing at an alarming rate.
Sees Thru Gloss: you're an idiot - blaming the victim, eh? The problem is too many sick people live in the world and too many adults in high positions not doing the right thing.
The host families do not receive any compensation, but the students’ parents can pay more than $10,000 for their child’s year abroad.
Gotta love this! Sounds like a great place for preditors to shop. Unbelievable!!!!!!!
Like in money crimes, follow the money. With sexual preditors, they follow the children. I've always been wary of people who are too friendly with kids. I had an art teacher in middle school, who was always very nice, but creeply too touchy feely with the students, two years later after I left middle school, he was arrested for sexual abuse on a few of the female students.
Give me a break, just more Obama Media searching for anything to be able to keep saying "Bush did it". Bottom line, when liberals run anything, especially when they run our schools bad things happen.
Folks, what do you expect from an inbred sob who still lives with his mother, in a chicken farm, in Arkansas? In Texas, bells would ring all over the f*ckin place....
You dont put people like that around children, or even adults! I wouldnt trust the sob around my chickens or farm animals either...
They like to poke anything they can get their hands on....betcha those farm animals will have something to say if they could speak!!! Get him outta there....
So, if the host family doesn't receive compensation, and the parents shell out $10,000, where the hell does all the money go?
A typical coverup begins with silencing the victim. Elevate and award the perpetrator to "clean up his image," and denigrate and denounce the victim. What is a victim to do against a huge, coordinated fabricated false reality put on by the authority over his head? It takes a lot of courage to stand up and fight this. But it protects potential victims from having the same in their future.
I imagine the smell of that trailer was bad enough without the lingering smell of two dudes getting it on. Sicko. Gross.
Garrick: As difficult as it is, victims should file a complaint with the police, and also tell other trusted adults such as trustworthy teachers. If a student contacts the company that stole the money (the money was used for nothing but profit), it is obvious that the student will get nowhere. The F.B.I. should have been contacted as well, because this crime obviously crosses state lines, in fact, crosses country lines. The State Department under Bush was different than the State Department now, but if any agency seems indifferent to a crime victim, don't stop complaining there. Our government is not a small general store, but is divided into different departments with different responsibilities; crime investigation is not the agenda of the State Department.
Interesting comment...but I am not familiar with the lingering smell of two dudes getting it on!
markwonder... Hilarious comment!
Garrick - Abuse of anyone let alone a child is wrong and am sorry if these kids were abused. I have traveled throughout the US and have found that there are millions of decent Americans living here. Some may have opinions that differ from mine but for the most part they are law abiding and a reasonable lot. What I have found is that the culture of victims has become pervasive. More people are now exploiting whatever opportunity they can to use as leverage for personal gain. I believed in the exchange student concept and had a German exchange student living in my home. He was the most arrogant 17 year old I had ever met. Stephan disregarded the Agency and school rules and our house rules. He patronized my wife and damaged household items and the car (thought it was fun to run across the top of the car). He would also bully the kids in school. We talked to him several times. His response was indifferent and when I told him that I was going to talk to his father in Germany (a physician) he said that he did not worry about it because he can control his parents. Later I found that he was carrying a knife with a 6 inch blade to school. After 6 months of this kid's attitude I called the Agency and asked them to remove him from our home. I suspect that this kid was an exception but I will never allow another foreign exchange student live with us.
Michael, maybe he had some of Hitler's genes in him?
I worked 3 months for an agency like the one described above...I pulled children from horrible conditions.
The local school called one day to report that a student refused to get on the bus to the host families home. I accompanied her to the home and was disgusted by what I saw..beer cans stacked all over, filth..my shoes stuck to the carpet. She was forced to share a very small room w/ a young child, expected to babysit while the parents worked, given 3 hrs of chores a night, host family drove her while under the influence. I immediately took the child from the home.
This is just one of many stories I could post!!
This is NOT uncommon...(that's why I only lasted 3 months). I tried on several occasions to get help from local, state, and federal agencies. No one cared. These children were not Amercican citizens. I wrote, called, and begged...that was 8 yrs ago. FINALLY...it's starting to come out.
KUDOS to the person that finally brought this to someones attention that would listen!!!!
Forgot to add...there were NO type of background checks done on host families!
Students think this is a dream come true...to come to American and study for a yr...for MOST it's a nightmare..stuck in trashy homes..and mistreated!!
AR has always been backwards, they gave us Bill and Hillary didn't they?
The new regulations require background checks on all people living in the house under 16. An adult liaison is required to check on the student monthly and help ensure this kind of thing does not happen. We have hosted students with three different exchange companies. The best has been a non-profit with no rewards for placing students. We have hosted five students and all are like our children. There are problems, but things have become much more regulated in the past 2-3 years. This is a horrible example of what can happen, but be careful not to throw away all of the good being done by reputable organizations.
Fortunately, this does not happen to every exchange student. My wife and I currently host an exchange student from Germany. He is a nice kid, and him and our son get along great. We have come to know his parents very well, and they will be coming to America at the end of the school year to meet us, and then take their son back to Germany. They have already asked if our son can come over to Germany to experience a few months of life in Germany with them this summer.
I can't decide who has learned more during this year because our exchange student has taught us so much about Germany and their life style there. We are going to miss him deeply when he leaves us.
The agency that we dealt with preformed housing checks by two different people before we were allowed to host a student. They also preformed background checks on all of our family. We also agreed to notify them if anyone else was going to be staying at our house for more than three days during our exchange student's stay. After the exchange student arrived, the coordinator came to our house on several occasions and checked with the exchange student to make sure he was happy and had no complaints about his housing or host family. It is a shame that some people abuse these programs and the kids involved in them. But nevertheless, I am sure there are many more good experiences than there are bad ones.
I come from a small town in Utah (2,500 people). So I imagine that any foreign exchange students hoping for New York were in for a shock when they showed up. We had one family that hosted 3 different exchange students (over 3 years), and I can tell you that the rest of us at school greatly enjoyed and learned from the exhange students. I particularly remember David from Spain because he was friend with my older brother. He talked a lot about his family, about his friends back home, and about the differences between the two towns (his was much larger), the culture, his family's traditions. He was great at answering all of our questions. For kids from a small farming community it was a peek into a world that most of us had never even given much thought to.
One can only shake one's head in disbelief. How is this possible ? Are there no inspections whatsoever ? What are those people thinking ?
Yeah, the kids should go to the Police ! Do you know how difficult it is for them ? And how would they get there ? Have their hots drive them ?
NO, NO, NO ! This is akin to a Human Rights Violation. Mr, Obama, you have so many Tsars, hire one to look after these vulnerable exchange students.
Bull@!$%#:
Absolutely disgusting, especially that the organizations ignored the students when they expressed concerns about their host families and allowed these families to continue hosting more kids. They are just as guilty as these pedophiles for failing to address the issue and sweeping it under the rug. I agree with UnitedStates1776, background checks are needed.
I think monthly check ups are better. If the host has no prior crime, you wont find anything. I also think, maybe check out the host's home to see if its even habitable.
My parents one time took in some exchange students who had no place to stay after their host families cancelled. My parents enjoyed them so much they became what is called emergency hosts I believe. The stories some of these kids told were shocking. Two brothers from Spain told us about a host family in Minnesota who tried to force them to paint the house. A female student from Venezuela who we had one year wanted to live closer to the city the following year when she came back to america. When she came back to america the second year she called my parents crying telling them about the crazy host lady she had. We went and picked her up and brought her to my parents home to stay with us. Some of the other stories these students we had were unbelievable. Homes that were filthy was the number one complaint they had. The only time that these students were questioned about their host families was at the end of their school term. The school would give them a questionaire to fill out. I remember these students so well. They were all nice kids. Two of them in fact later came and visited us while they were here in america visiting. The young lady from Venezuela and a young man from Taiwan. Many others sent us thankyou cards ...Anybody here reading this, if you have a spare bedroom and you know how to cook and have transportation to take the kids to school and pick them up later, you will enjoy it I promise. And do what my parents did and that was they spent all the money that was given to them on the kids.
Dissociate, thanks for that great story. Your parents are decent people and great ambassadors for their country.
I too have hosted exchange students from what was then, AFS. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and so did the students; one of whom had problems with other families. No, I did not receive any kind of compensation. I felt obliged to do it, since my own daughter was being hosted in France by a nice family.
Now, I am puzzled as to why these children are placed in these remote, deep rural, places...and in questionable trailers.
Just ask yourselves, is this what I would like for MY child? Shouldn't we be making this experience one of the best of their lives? Come on folks, we can do so much better.
Honestly, with google maps - can't the foreign parent google the address and see "hovel" written all over it, and request a change? It just boggles my mind a foreign kid would be put in a trailer...
Don't these kids talk to their parents? I find it hard to believe a Euro parent would just say "suck it up honey" - what is the mentality there on parent/child communication??
My kids are college age now (but don't live far away). I have considered an exchange program, we have 4 empty bedrooms, and are about a 15 minute drive from the ocean. Maybe I should, we picked this area because of the exceptional public schools, so that is not a worry. Hmmm... it would be so fun to use the monies from those companies to take a bunch of kids on a grand tour of SoCal. Have to think about it for this Fall. And I think having a native speaker, maybe a school volunteer parent, lined up to assist, would help ease culture shock.
Another thing that is disgusting. No death penalty for the molesters, rapists, and murderers. There is only one rehabilitation for these people and that is in to a coffin, six feet under.
Dissociate - Abuse of anyone let alone a child is wrong and am sorry if any of these kids were abused. I have traveled throughout the US and have found that there are millions of decent Americans living here. Some may have opinions that differ from mine but for the most part they are law abiding and a reasonable lot. What I have found is that the culture of victims has become pervasive. More people are now exploiting whatever opportunity they can to use as leverage for personal gain. I believed in the exchange student concept and had a German exchange student living in my home. He was the most arrogant 17 year old I had ever met. Stephan disregarded the Agency and school rules and our house rules. He patronized my wife and damaged household items and the car (thought it was fun to run across the top of the car). He would also bully the kids in school. We talked to him several times. His response was indifferent and when I told him that I was going to talk to his father in Germany (a physician) he said that he did not worry about it because he can control his parents. Later I found that he was carrying a knife with a 6 inch blade to school. After 6 months of this kid's attitude I called the Agency and asked them to remove him from our home. I suspect that this kid was an exception but I will never allow another foreign exchange student live with us.
Siobahn: My small town (2,500) in Utah had a family who hosted foriegn exchange students. The next town over (5,000) had 2 families who hosted foreign exchange students. Just because we were small rural towns doesn't mean we aren't part of America. Yeah were probably weren't as cool as New York, and we sure didn't offer the same experience as a bigger city could. But small town America is just as important, and just as much a part of the 'American Experience' as any other location.
Hot in Miami, I am 100% sure that this guy Mayer was not on the sex offender list. You have to have been caught to be on that list. Also, you cannot rely on them registering with the local law enforcement office.
It would help a lot if those well-paid agents would spend half an hour at the home and check the conditions out. Often, one can tell at first glance what is going on. That guy Mayer ? As someone said - I would not let him go near my chickens ! There obviously was no supervision whatever.
If this had happened to my children ! Gives me nightmares. The guy would never be able to molest any kids again. I hope the journalists follow up on this story and tell us that he is in jail and will stay there for the rest of his life.
Guillaume and Christopher--
As an American, I want you to know that 99% of us are sickened by what happened to you. There is nothing you could have done to deserve this.
I hope and pray that you can move on and overcome the memories of the abuse.
Please don't judge America based on it's most horrible scum. We are better than that.
Amen Idahoan
This breaks my heart and I am APPALLED about what happened
Unbelieveable... I wonder, are we really better than that? The majority of headlines are negative - people are just doing horrible things to each other in this country. I know we're not isolated - terrible things happen all over the world at the hands of citizens. We'd like to think we're better than that, but are we really? Terribly sad to read this.
SWoodsFan:
I can hear the incredulance in your post and sometimes I wonder myself. However, try this, look in the mirror and ask the question again. You know the answer will be "yes." I would bet you are. Crappy things get reported, most of the "good stuff" is ordinary and everyday...not going to hear much about it.
Regards
I hope so.
Guillaume and Christopher--
As an American, I want you to know that 99% of us are sickened by what happened to you. There is nothing you could have done to deserve this.
I hope and pray that you can move on and overcome the memories of the abuse.
Please don't judge America based on it's most horrible scum. We are better than that.
Well done Idahoan. I would like to believe this also.
I'm as disgusted about most of the comments on this article as I am about the article itself. The host families, coordinators and executives of these organizations should all be jailed. They are doing nothing more than peddling children to sex offender, if even only 1% of the time. The fact is that 1% is too much and to allow it to be repeated time and time again makes these coordinators and executes liable as well.
I agree. This careless behaviour is not acceptable and I think it is fueled by unadulterated greed. The whole organization is liable and should pay.
Seriously send some kid to live in a trailer, with perverts? Someone is pocketing the cash, and looking the other way. Greed strikes again! Close down this organization!
I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!! It's Greed over a childs safety!!!
To samnet40: The incident stems from a 2003 exchange student suggesting the practice has been going on for some time before and possibly after 2003 but, uncovered and brought to the attention of the public while the current President is in office. Get your facts straight..............
Yeah right and no one wanted to report on it until Obama desperate media lap puppies decided to dig for anything that would distract from his failure.
....and one child was molested this past Christmas! Read the complete article. The problem still persists.
Unfortunately, this abuse has probably been going on since the program was conceived. It's ridiculous to lay the blame on one administration or political party.
Please!
This has nothing to do with the President, past or present. It has to do with our SICK society. And it's just a symptom of that sickness that so many people want to blame the President.
No one will face the problems in this country--not the government nor the people. We really do have the government we deserve.
this isn't just a problem in the US. American students going abroad can face the same.....these organizations need to be held accountable/liable.
I agree it can happen any place but... These people where in the US far from home with no where to go and apparently no one to listen to them when the problems started.
It is imperative that exchange students be carefully placed and that their concerns are taken vary seriously when they first bring them up. If we cant see to the safety of minors who are out of their own country, then we should close these programs.
Well, so much for diplomacy. Like my father always says, if you take a pinch of sh!t and drop it in a cystal clear glass of water. No matter how tiny the particles of sh!t is, the glass of water is forever tainted.
What about the people who commit the crime? Why are we so soft and compassionate when it comes to rapist, molesters, murderers, and drug dealers? Why isn't there a death penalty for these crimes and only one appeal? If you appeal and lose the first, you are done. Put in the ground. You will not rehabilitate these people. There is no punishment for these. You spend part or all of your life in prison. 3 meals a day and a dry roof over your head.
Execute this man! There is no need for his type in society.
The kids from Europe see sex and drink at a earlier age then here in the states.
I was 18 in the army stationed in berlin and went to the red light district all the time and in Frankfurt which had the 6 story buildings.
This does not make it ok to touch someone sexually if they do not want to be touched. It makes it worse when you are in charge of the person.
hmm, so you are saying your moral compas changes all the time if it benefits you? They need better screening in the army if they've let people like you in.
It doesn't matter what the exchange students' backgrounds were. In THIS country, sexual contact between adults and anyone under 18 yo is illegal.
You're wrong TnDan, it varies from state to state. There is no national age of consent in the US, but I'm in no way condoning the behavior described in the article.
I worked for 3 months for an agency like the one mentioned above...the things I saw were terrible. Students placed in horrible conditions.
I received a call from our local school one day, one of the exchange students refused to get on the bus to her host families home. I came to the school and accompanied her back to the house. It was filthy, beer cans thrown everywhere, my shoes stuck to the carpet, she was forced to share a small room w/ a young child, excepted to babysit while the host parents worked, given 3 hrs of chores per day, she was threatened, humiliated by the family on several occasions. I immediatedly packed her up and took her to my home for the rest of her stay in the U. S. A.
This is one story, I could post several, some worse!!
I sought help on several occasions from local, state and federal agencies. No one seemed to care. These children were not U.S. citizens.
The real criminals are the people who place these students!! They are given guidelines that they repeatedly DO NOT follow. At the time (8 yrs ago) they were paid $500.00 for each student they placed. Believe me, the money far outweighed the students safety..
KUDOS to whomever broke this story!!! It's about time!!!
I never imagined something like this could happening. Why? I guess I didn't want to BELIEVE that it could happen. Why? Cuz I wanted to think Americans are good people and something like this would NEVER happen. Can you say STUPID? America is turning into a POS!
Americans ARE good people. The article says that this abuse rarely happens, and that most exchange student experiences in the U.S. are positive ones. The incidents mentioned in the article also seem to have occurred between 2002 - 2005, so we have in this story, another instance of media rehashing and sensationalizing. The incidents were reported then. Yes, abuse is serious, and it deserves to be mentioned, but in this article it's blown out of proportion. It isn't representative of most exchange student experiences, and when the media DOES senstionalize, all the Chicken Littles come out to say that the sky is falling.
Thank God Nikolaus
I was about to have a complete breakdown
Thank you
Rarely happens is not good enough. It should never happen. The agency should be shut down and face jail sentences for what these kids were put through.
Nikolaus20 - Though the incidents mentioned occurred several years ago, and many exchange students have had great experiences, I don't believe this article has blown the situation out of proportion - the discussion is about sexual abuse of kids that have little legal representation while in the country they are visiting. Kids are being abused and there are situations with little supervision within these programs - it would be great if more investigation was done to see how prevalent the problem really is. Then, follow up with making changes to the system that will protect the students.
oops, responded to wrong post. =)
Brooke, America is NOT turning into a POS. Every country has it's share of Sh!t, America just has more freedom in it's media to publish more sh!t than other countries.
Yes, "thepunisher," much better to sweep this under the rug than publicize it. Are you serious?
Yes, CLOSE DOWN this organization.
Well, they deserve to be shut down, at the very least.
Do these agencies not do home checks on the people that say they will take an exchange student, or do they just take their word for it? I mean, a trailer in Arkansas? Really? I'd walk back out and ask for my money back, send me home. There is nothing wrong with these kids experiencing a small town in rural America, but there needs to be better oversight than pushing these kids off on the first yahoo that signs up.
Janelle,
They usually have ppl in a 25 miles radius place these kids. They are paid $500.00 for each child they place. Most, I repeat, MOST do not care what type of home they place them in!!
When they arrive and are unhappy they are threatened, told to keep their mouth shut. When they speak to their parents, they are told to speak English, that way the host family understands what is being said.
It's a scam...that's why I only lasted 3 months..and most of that time was spent trying to replace students.
soon - I wish you'd have hung in there a bit longer, and taken notes with your state's highest policing organization. Then blown it wide open.
This is just right wing propaganda.
I can't believe you even took the time to type that.
You righties never own up to anything.
You make no sense at all................what else do the voices tell you?
Enter the red herring.
Is that your imaginary friend? Did he just come into your room with you?
Like I said, enter the red herring.
One day you will understand the significance of the phrase.
So how long have been seeing "red herrings" and hearing voices and do they come from said "herring"?
Someday you will understand.
You are friends with a talking fish............interesting. I do understand that helps explain your strange postings. You Sir are a regular Dr. Doolittle I myself have no such ability to communicate with fish, animals or fowl.
OR Trolls!
Exactly TXhorseman. LOL
Then again, maybe you will not.
Is that you or the fish talking?
fight nicely, children
hahahahaha......but serously, did you just put this on some political propaganda? I guess we never made it to moon either, it was all tv special effects to mislead the russians.
gtouch, you proved nothingnewhere's point more than once! ROFLMAO
nothing new here-1200374 -
It just goes to show how juvenile some of these people are. It kind of reminds me of young kids that say you are stupid as a last resort-self defense mechanism.
Then again, maybe Bush did do it. Maybe this is a big mess Obama has to clean up. I know how he will fix it; he can just borrow another $1,000,000,000,000 to pay off the press so they keep quiet about it.
The way he spends money you can be sure the 1%'ers will come out clean. Oh, the victims, well just like the crash, they can just pull themselves up by their own boot-straps.
this was why we didn't let our daughter participate in one of these programs. Not enough oversight, supervision, checks and balances, etc. She was really upset at the time, but after reading this story,..............she really appreciates us doing our job as parents now.
My daughters' high school had a reciprocal agreement with a school in Italy- we kept a girl for 2 weeks and when our kids went over, they stayed with the parents of the kids we hosted. I must say though, it was the most wonderful 2 weeks of our lives. We had 15 Italian teenagers with their host students on several nights. One night they even made us from scratch Italian pasta and sauce! Our kids loved staying with their Italian families. All of the kids cried when they went back.
My point is that this is too valuable an experience for kids to just throw away. I will never forget having to go rescue them when my daughter's car broke down. I had to put them in the back of my pickup, yes I know it's illegal. We were rural and that was the vehicle I had. They went wild! We stopped on the way home at the local store for ice cream cones and we laughed until we cried at them trying to order ice cream with their Italian. The store clerk was laughing just as hard as the kids! Those kinds of memories are golden. Fix the programs but don't stop them.
God I am so sick of these whack job perverts, they mess up everything.
I think the short term programs such as you describe keep everyone so busy there is little time for abuse to happen. It is the extended programs that go for 6 months to a full year were the problems occur. I would not have my kids participate in a long term program, but I am in complete agreement that there is immense value to the short term exchanges! It sounds like you had a great experience!
I wonder if I could get involved with the program, I would like them from asia if It's possible to chose?
I am sure that Meyer guy also runs a pedophile mailing list. Just get in his circle and I'm sure you'll get whatever age of kid from whatever country you prefer.
yus,
I'm sorry, you miss read me, I want to show them how good americans are!
I bet you want to show foreign kids how good americans are, an experience of a life time.
Ew, please re-read your post. You sounds like a PERV!!!
Wonderful. Yet another story to make this country look awful. As if the world doesnt hate us enough
Exactly.
Like obama said, we are too arrogant.
Who cares if another country hates us. We should be more concerned about Americans who hate other Americans. Besides, appeasing to other countries does NOTHING for Americans - period, and particularly appeasement by means of immigration (legal or not). Either way, you have Americans here that hate Americans and foreigners that migrate to America that also hate Americans. So what is your point.
Man you are a Rusty Frame.
You don't care what anyone else thinks about Americans. Glad you're not my neighbor.
Funny I just care about people.
Do you really care for people, or do you care what people think about you? Let me tell you, the nicer you are to foreign countries the more they despise you. They laugh at us behind our backs, because they feel nobody and I say nobody can be that stupid as the people in the U.S. Sorry to say, I am pro American by the way. What these countries don't realize is that it is not the people but our government.
Nothing new here---just who is too arrogant? Not the people, I'll wager.
joyless - you truly are an example of excruciating ethnocentrism, and so very wrong.
RustyFrame said:
Who cares if another country hates us. We should be more concerned about Americans who hate other Americans. Besides, appeasing to other countries does NOTHING for Americans - period, and particularly appeasement by means of immigration (legal or not). Either way, you have Americans here that hate Americans and foreigners that migrate to America that also hate Americans. So what is your point.
I'd like to ask you the same question. This article isn't about appeasing other countries, or immigration. These are kids who are curious about other cultures, other people, new faces, new friends, and thanks to to exchange student programs they can experience the best parts of another country's culture. These kids are the future of their country as our children are the future of our, and with information technology at such a boom, it is no longer feasible--or politically and socially prudent--to retain an isolationist 'no one in' policy. We are edging toward a global community and a global economy, and global citizens who understand different cultures and countries are very much going to be a necessity for the future of our planet.
One of my coworkers has hosted an exchange student, I had the pleasure of experiencing the process at close secondhand. The student was a young girl from Costa Rica and she was invited to tour our company and she was very polite, respectful, energetic, with a wonderful personality and she's sent numerous letters expressing her joy in the visit and her appreciation for our hospitality.
I was distressed to hear that not all students' experiences have been similarly stellar, and I think it would be wonderful to bring the student (and parents) who have had horrible experiences back and spend some time with us, let us show them that we aren't all like that and that American culture can be wonderful and the people similarly so.