Will my 18 year old daughter be safe going to school in South Africa?

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lei$hler

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE NOTICED? ALL PEOPLE BAD MOUTHING SOUTH AFRICA HERE ARE ADULTS. SHAME YOU ALL A BUNCH OF WUSSIES!!!! AMAZING HOW YOU GET THE REAL VIEWS FROM THE FUTURE GENERATION! ALL YOU PEOPLE BAD MOUTHING SOUTH AFRICA PROBABLY SH*T YOUR PANTS EVERY TIME YOU HERE A BANG! "OH NO WHAT WAS THAT?" YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF ASSSS HOLES! I AM SOUTH AFRICAN AND HAVE LIVED HERE ALL MY LIFE! PEOPLE TRY UNDERSTAND 1 LITTLE DETAIL... THE STATISTICS ARE CRAZY (CRIME) BUT WHERE DOES ALL THIS CRAP TAKE PLACE??? IN TOWNSHIPS, SQUATTER CAMPS AND ALL PLACES WHERE UNEDUCATED PEOPLE LIVE. IF YOUR DAUGHTER COMES TO SOUTH AFRICA SHE WILL NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR THOSE PLACES! ALL YOU NEED TO BE HERE IS AWARE AND THEN YOU ARE 100% FINE!!!!!! I AM A SAPS POLICEMAN (RESERVIST) IN JOHANNESBURG (YES THE MOST "DANGEROUS" CITY IN THE WORLD) SOUTH AFRICA AND I COULD TELL YOU THAT MOST CRIME HAPPENS IN THESE PLACES LIKE ALEXANDRA (BLACK TOWNSHIP) SOWETO (BLACK TOWNSHIP) THEMBISA (BLACK TOWNSHIP) HILLBROW (ALL LOWER CLASS PEOPLE) THERE ARE 40 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICA! 98% OF THE AIDS STATS AFFECTS THEM NOT THE WHITE PEOPLE. I AM NOT A RACIST I'M JUST TELLING YOU THE TRUTH! AS FOR ALL THESE BIG TALKS, LOOK AROUND, WHAT DO YOU SEE? I SEE A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS FROM THE WAY THEY LIVE NOW! OH AND STOP SAYING STUPID THINGS LIKE, "YOUR SPELLING IS BAD"... GET A LIFE! IF YOU DONT LIKE SOUTH AFRICA, LEAVE WUSSY!

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ANDY you are cool! weldone. amazing how all the south african girls ("raped" all the time and "targeted") have the most positive views on South Africa:) mr JHONYHAW, No i dont have bars on my windows. NO ia am not scared of crime and guess what? me and my best friend believ in a saying, "if you dont believe it will happen to you, it WONT" i have never been robbed, the worst i had was a guy that came into my driveway trying to steal money (from painters, painting my house) and well sorry dude he didnt feel very well the next morning.

Malan

Any middle class+ school will be safe. I'm in a Model C (previously advantaged) Afrikaans school. We pay R750 per month. Absolutely safe and the standards are high. Discipline in classes are excellent. There are a lot of posh schools in Cape Town for example eg. SACS, Bishops where you pay eg. R2000 per month, but you get quality education. Schools where you pay more than R400 per month will be good. Where will you stay? And what school will she attend? You can send me a private message for any questions because I'm a 17-year old student in a South African school!

There's an exchange student I know from Germany attending a South African school at this moment. She absolutely love South Africa and tell me it's the best country in the world. She's 17 years old and quickly fell in love with the country. It all depends where she is going to stay. There are places in SA that are much safer than areas in America - it all depends on WHERE in South Africa! :)

***********

I'm not a travel agent. Whenever I answer a question Brad and Alf lie and say I'm a travel agent. Well, at least I have confirmation of my identity unlike Brad and Alf who yet came with the evidence that they do exist. They also live outside SA.

The standard of the good schools in SA are very high - the Math standards are much higher in SA than in the USA... but I guess she's going to attend university? Can you please specify which one? 4 of SA's 22 universities are in the top 500 of the world and UCT has one of the 100 best business schools in the world. With a degree at one of SA's universities, you'll be able to work anywhere in the world.

peanut butter

i am teenager in south africa and it is honestly not bad. sure there is crime but if she is with the right people then there shouldnt be a problem. if you try to look for the bad of a country you will find it, south africa has so much to offer ,she will learn a lot and have a great time no doubt!!

unreal hero

It is a fact that SA does have a high crime rate, however, much of the crime can be avoided by being well aware of your surroundings and sticking to public places.

When you say school, I assume you mean university since your daughter is 18 years old?
SA has some of the best university campuses in the world. I myself am a graduated of the University of Pretoria and found the campus to be safe and secure. I can honestly say that I never had a probem when I was going to and from varsity.
the times when I did have problems with crime are when I went into places such as the city centre and certain suburbs which are well-known for crime. So long as your daughter keeps away from these places and keeps her eyes open she should be more or less fine. Obvious things not to do would include flashing money and jewellery around as well as driving with her car door unlocked. She should be on the look-out for suspicious looking characters that may be inclined to steal her car/belongings.

You mention that your daughter is very trusting. If she does indeed come to SA, then this will have to change. Some people are very adept at luring youg girls away. She should just follow the old saying of "Don't trust strangers"

You do not mention in which part of SA she would like to go study. Perhaps add this in your additional details or post another question asking that. You will find that there will be several South Africans who will be willing to offer advice of places in the area that she will be studying she should and should not visit in order to be safe.

SA is very unique in that it has several first-world places which compare well to US cities as well as many third-world places which will compare a lot less favourably. Quite obviously, she should stay out of those palces.

Also remember that as a concerned parent, you will likely be a bit worried wherever she goes in the world - especially since she has never been outside the States

dWali

3/4 of these people speak CRAP. You cannot compare South Africa to Lagos etc. We are MUCH more developed and safe. Drop me an email, let me know where she is going to school, and I can let you know what the area is like etc.

I can also try to contacts some teenagers/parents from her prospective school to give you a better idea.

(The majority of people who have commented on here seems either never to have been to South Africa, or people like Brad who left South Africa when we became a democratic country. )

Tweety

Hey, living in South Afirca is fun, I went to school in SA and turned out okey. Dude, the crime is really not sooooo bad.

Perhaps the safest school would be the ACE schools.

lilypod

everybody wake up....... all of you are talking about africa not south africa, if you don't live here how can you recommend any advice to any person. south africa might be in africa but there is a world of difference. do you know why it sound so bad here? it's because every crime actually gets published where in your europene and american countries it gets surpressed so that that city or state or town sound like the land of milk and honey. oh, and the fact about aids.... you only get it by sleeping with someone who has aids or coming in contact with someones blood who has aids.... not by letting your daughter come to school here. is south africa a safe place for your daughter? it's as safe as where you live now. every town and every city has crime, nobody can bulls**t that, we just choose to let it out. i am now 24 years of age and i can tell you that living in this beautiful country and growing up here has been a joyful ride. send her it's only going to make her a stronger person.

Sanmigsean

Americans are the most naive people in the world. Saying that your daughter is a naive American compounds this. Africa in general is not for the faint of heart, even for experienced travellers! I would say that you should categorically keep your daughter away from anywhere in Africa before she has a few travel experiences on her own to build up her confidence.

There are much safer places like Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Bogota, Moscow, Beijing, or Manila (get my point?) where she could go first. Western Europe also isn't bad to start with.

andy

pam let me not beat around the bush......SOUTH AFRICA IS A GREAT PLACE AND YOUR DAUGHTER WILL ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!!!!

i have lived in joburg all my life. ive gone to primary school, high school and now university in joburg.

i have never been raped, hijacked, stolen from, offered drugs AND I DONT LIVE A SHELTERED LIFE!!!!!

she will enjoy the experience and if she doesnt like what south africa has to offer her(there is a lot it can offer her) then she can always move back to the states(which i doubt she will want to do)

dont be sooo worried because you cant judge a country by its statistics!!!!!!!!

smartass

If you are coming from u.s. you will have no problem here. I was in newyork 2 mnths ago and felt more unsafe than here in durban and capetown. maybe u shouldn't go to cities with high crime like jo'burg and capetown. here in durban it is safer than in newyork and we've got good schools, universities, colleges and technikons. we've got good people who live here and love this place, and unfortunately we've got pathetic ones as well like smiley.

the librarian

Yes S. Africa-has crime but what US city doesn't. Some of the comments that people have made almost come across racist!
Americans we are in denial if we act like we don't have crime everwhere!!If you watch the news American kids are not safe in schools, the mall, or even in Walmart. Kids have been robbed, shot, raped in American schools/universities. This year the Amish community was even affected when a guy went in and shot several girls in Lancaster, PA.

I think your daughter will be fine as long as she follows normal safety tips that you would use in any major city such as Washington DC, Detroit, New York.... Ive been to S. Africa and visited schools, universities and librararies. I saw students walking around, taking buses, driving, etc. Your daughter needs to walk in groups when it gets dark or be in doors when it's late. Use ATM's in grocery stores /malls/or in the university instead of at street banks which can have crooks watching her. Be careful of new friends and acquaintances.I have lived in Detroit, Washington DC, (2 Top crime cities) Houston and have visited several African and European countries-and have never been robbed, raped, assaulted (knock on wood) but I have also taken precautions. I don't walk or jog early in the morning by myself (In Capetown we walked in the morning w at least 3 women.) I'm not talking on the cell phone walking down the street not aware of my surroundings which is another way people get robbed in the US and in Africa. You don't also invite/or tell strangers where you live/where you from etc.

carokokos

The problem with answers from people like lilypod are that they are generally in denial as to just how bad things really are in SA. She says you can't comment if you don't live there - yet most of the answers above hers come from people who do live there (or who have lived there for significant periods of their lives) I guess that if I still lived there I might also have to take on the positive "sure there's crime, but" outlook cause it might be one of the only ways of surviving psychologically.

Look, chances are your daughter could happily go to school/varsity in SA and have an amazing time. She could enjoy the amazing scenery, make friends with some of the warmest people in the world and eat the most gorgeous food on earth. But the chances of those not being her overriding memories of her time in SA are very high. She could be ok, but the chances of something traumatic (or even fatal) happening to her are higher there than almost anywhere else in the world.

She would quickly have to drop her naivety and learn to be very watchful and security conscious. It's all a question of odds - and whether you want to take a calculated risk with your daughter's wellbeing.

Ashwin M

No, it is not very safe for a girl to study in South Africa.The crime rates and the environment is not good.She might not like it.

johnnyhawkyns

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
the stats are all there. USA 12000 murders 300,000.000 people
South Africa 22000 murders 60,000,000 people.
Zukin do you have burglar bars on your windows. I don't because I left the country. In fact I can leave my doors unlocked
Lilypod you should really stop drinking.
You know that there is an outcry bout how many students are raped on campus at UCT, you don't hear about how many contract aids. You don't have to cosent to sex to get aids.
Nothing is further from the truth in stating that you publish all crime where others don't. It is true that a restaurant and all patrons thereof in a very upmarket area were robbed and it did not even get into the press. truth is there is too many crimes to publish. Do yourself a favour and look at the site above and sto living in a fools paridise. By the way the education system is also going down the shute, it is European. You should know this from the signs "Europeans only".
.

When I lived in S.A. My wife's brother was murdered.
My daughter had 2 boyfriends murdered and her son was recently attacked in a school playground by a kid with a knife. This was in a good suburb of Cape Town. We were also burgled several times and had 2 cars stolen. Have you ever heard of this amount of crime from one family.
I have never met anyone where I live now that even knows somebody that has even been affected by murder.
But then we have fewer than 900 per annum.

rabbit

OK. Don't let her come here if she is too trusting. She will get into a lot of trouble. Most people are good honest souls here but there are enough downright bad people here who cause crime to be so high.

Your daughter will be a target because she is foreign and will not know what is safe and what is not!!

Tiger200

No she won't really be safe she might be but i would not let her go if i where you i grew up there until i was 17 and i can tell you you are going to have sleepless nights until she comes home my advice is do not let her go !!

:) peace

IT is not safe what so ever to be down there!! Do not let her go, I have been there before and I was scared to go to sleep! Plus a lot of people have AIDS down there too... your choice

Nunya B

If she's handy with a sjambok... :)

You may want to read what the American Ambassador to S.A. had to say about crime and the effects on the World Cup in 2010. Not very promising.

shoe s

you nutz, dont let her go there,rape of women is the biggest sport

Michael B

NO.
Is she safe where she is now?
What are the circumstances?
Will you be going with her?
Why would she go there?

brian2007

I wouldn't recommend it because the majority-black population (who bore the brunt of decades of apartheid) are committing most of the violent crimes there. South Africa is too violent and unsafe for her. Is it worth your daughter's life just to get an education in South Africa? No it isn't. She'll be dead even before school starts.

It's a boy! 9/9/09

is not darfur in Africa...where they rape women for sport. they also tie ppl up, stuff their mouths with cotton, then light the cotton on fire, then they burn to death.....I WOULD NEVER EVER SEND MY KID TO AFRICA!

Nut B

Be scared. I live in SA, and we are constantly paranoid about crime, with good reason. good luck

ps. re: lillypod's post... don't worry, the rest of us can generally spell properly

Smiley

I'm South African and I agree with the rest. Keep her away from South Africa cause what you've read so far is true and it should scare the crap out of you. The crime rate is really that bad!

Alf Garnett 111

Firstly you need to ignore the denialists Malan the Travel Agent and D'Wali. South African schools are extemely unsafe with a nunber of pupils having been stabbed and murdered in recent times. The instances of schoolgirl pregnancies are so high they are considering introducing Maternity Leave for girls. A woman is raped every 8 minutes according to their crime stats but the Medical Profession and Rape Crisis state that the stats are up to 15 times under reported. The violence and crime in South Africa is not repeated in any other Country in the World that is not at War and further they are unable/unwilling to deal with it. No sensible Adult/Parent would ever dream of sending a minor to South Africa unless they are sick and enjoy nightmares.

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