In recent years schools in several states have canceled trips to London, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, Paris and a myriad of the world’s other popular destinations in an abundance of caution for the possibility of an act of terrorism being committed by ISIS or one of their affiliates under a school’s watch. Although understandable, this degree of caution towards travel abroad is not completely warranted.
Following the increased frequency of terrorist attacks in western countries that has manifested in recent years, those same countries and their associates have increased security and police presence drastically, according to Al Arabiya reports.
Since the Paris attacks, Italy has stationed special forces across the country to be on call for emergencies and added 700 troops to the patrol their capital, Rome, in addition to setting forth a program to document all permanent immigrants to Italy, according to a November Xinhua report. The preparedness within the European Union has even reached such levels that the openness of borders within the Union is being threatened, as there are typically no passport checks or searches when passing over borders between EU countries, and countries like Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia are now moving toward passport checks and systematic searches surrounding their borders.
Beyond Europe’s increased security, the United States faces the same threats as the EU. The most recent publicized terror attack occurred on Jan. 7 in Philadelphia, according to CNN, in which a police officer was shot. With San Bernardino and Charleston, trips within the United States are no longer considered any safer than those abroad, making fears towards such travel illogical to say the least.
Schools, being legally responsible for the safety of their students, would see it unwise to send said students into what they may see as danger. Because of this, waivers should need to be signed by parents and students for trips abroad in these trying times, as they have been for every field trip, to relieve legal burdens of preserving student safety in totality from schools.
Having no real legal liability, nor reason to believe that traveling abroad is any more dangerous than traveling back home, a school considering the cancellation of such international trips should avoid making such decisions based on anxiety dependent on misinformation and fear of the unknown, as the removal of such plans may not only damage the education of students, but encourage terrorists, after all; does avoiding an entire world outside of your own border not prove that you are living in terror?
This editorial represents the unanimous view of the editorial board
