I don't want to sound as if I'm belittling the victim here, but there's more to this story than Suzanne Lewers. My daughter graduated from high school two years ago and wanted to go backpacking arround Europe, with no set itenerary. Her mother & I would not let her go, and we had a relatively bad falling out about it, as she wanted what she wanted and didn't believe that our concerns/fears were valid. Going out of country for an unchaperoned "senior trip" is apparently viewed by todays teens as a right and not a privelege in America these days. I don't know about the process by which Ms. Lewers & her parents arrived at the decision to let her go, but the more I hear about Cancun, Aruba, and hostels in Europe, the more I question the sanity of any parent who approves of these trips for their teenaged children. I have no doubts many go and have a good time; but who wants to be this kind of statistic?

i hope he is caught

My daughter wanted to go to Cancun on her senior trip. I felt if she was old enough to go, she was old enough to pay for it. She stayed home. If she had paid for it herself, I still would have instructed to her be careful, watchful, and always stay with your friends or chaperones. Both in Ms. Holloway's disappearance and this young woman's rape, it was clearly a lack of judgement that caused the outcome. Bad people just don't exist in the United States, they are located on white sandy beaches with clear blue water.

We see again that the illusion that females have 'equal' rights as males have given rise to yet another victim of folly. Men are very very unlikely to get raped while traveling alone or with other males.

That other lost girl has not yet come back from Aruba. And somehow we never seem to learn from these gross parental errors after errors.

I think the sad part of this story is that the rapist got more prison time for impersonating a police officer than the actual rape.

I know Suzy Lewers personally and never knew of her awful experience in Cancun. I graduated a year before her and also went to Cancun for my senior trip with the same organization as Suzy did. No one should ever have to go through what Suzy has gone through, however, Suzy knew her biggest mistake was not staying with her friends. The "senior trip" is meant to be just that: a trip with your senior friends to celebrate the fact that you just graduated and this might be the last time that you'll get to enjoy each others company for awhile. Yes, it is important for parents to be aware of where their kids are going but, ultimately parents have to trust that they have given their children the knowledge to survive in the "real-world" where, unfortunately, some bad people live. We must remember though that most kids come back from their "senior trip" in one piece with good memories that will last a lifetime. The lessons learned from Suzy's and others experience are that you need to always stay with a friend when traveling (I think we all learned the buddy-system in preschool), we need to trust our instincts, and we need to be aware of our surroundings at all times. I don't want the media to scare the next generation into never leaving the house. Instead, I think we need to give them the information to make smart choices, and that doesn't mean boycotting all foreign travel.

Why did the parent's of Natalie Holloway and her classmates allow these kids to go on a trip to Aruba? Apparently in Aruba 18 year olds can drink and go to the casino, but that still doesn't mean it should be a school sponsored function. It's pretty stupid to allow a non-street wise American girl to go galavanting around a foreign country. Natalie was gone all night long. Where were the chaperones? By the way, who paid for that Aruba trip? I'm also sick of all these idiot parents who say, "I told my kid not to do so and so." These morons don't realize that, yeah, the kid heard what you said, and even said they were going to do as you told them to do, but then they went and did the stupid things kids have always done. Telling them doesn't mean diddly squat. Parents need to keep their kids out of harm's way.

I hope people realize these horrible things happen everyday right here at home. I don't think teenages should go anywhere alone.(In America or Mexico or anywhere) All we hear about is what happens on senior trips outside of our country. What about the rapes and murders that happen everyday right here in the good ole USA??

I am Mexican, I lived in Can Cun for a while, and saw the way the young Tourist make a lot of things they never do here in the USA.
The tourist's companies has to give security to them, for the caos they made at the bars and night clubs.
This is something that can hapen any where in the world, isn't the place, is the way they are outside home.

I am sorry to hear about what happened to Suzanne. She is very brave to come forward,especially at her age, as majority of women do not. I was raped a year and a half ago while traveling through Thailand, by a Thai man. I was 28 at the time. I went to the police and to court. His date in court is this August 1st, he has been out on bail since they found him. The big issue I have is the lack of any help I received from my Canadian government. My family and I contacted the consulate in Thailand and in Canada, they made it clear that they could do nothing and we were being a pain. I just would have liked the number of a reputable translator and the number of an western standard and/or english speaking doctor...not much to ask. My Goverment, the people you think you can turn overseas, were and have been zero help. To this day I can't find out any information about my case. The reality is that it seems that if something happens to you overseas and you decide to come forward, it's a long, hard and lonely struggle without any help.

Here Here! I am very disturded by the peice we just watched on Cancun. Before writing this I read the other comments and was relieved to know that there are other people who know that there are too many parents who allow their children to take graduation trips out of the country based on what they hear. My husband and I have been traveling to Mexico for the past 10 plus years and from what we have witnessed there is too many young people taking these graduation trips ( whethter they are high school or spring break trips doesn't matter!) and what we have witnessed is frightening to say the least. These kids are in a place that is intoxicating and the addition of liquor just intensifies it. I just hope that the peice that you televised does not hurt all of the wonderful places and people who are Mexico. V. Thomas MO

I have to agree with Theo's comments about the media scaring the next generation into never leaving home. There are bad people no matter where you are. We had a person come into our home at a time when high school kids are coming home from school. My fourteen year old son was attacked. Thankfully, he was not physically injured. We have to be aware of our environnment. Our back door was unlocked because he had let the dog out to use the bathroom. It's very sad to think that in this world you're not even safe at home. But my family has refused to be held captive behind closed doors and most often than not, our doors are unlocked. My eighteen year old daughter is now in Cancun with a group on her senior trip. We talked about the buddy system. When I said forget the buddy system she and her friends looked at me shocked to hear me say that. I then said travel in a pack. There is safety in numbers. Young girls have been taken by two before. Just hang with the group at all times and keep the chaperones in sight. I have to trust that she will use her head and remember to be alert and to have her friends around at all times.

I think we are afraid to be parents even when we 'know ' things are dangerous.Our mistake too.It happens in so many cases of different teen situations.Just like teens will drink and drive and sneak around at all cost.Lie to their parents when, where ,how doesn't matter as long as they get what THEY want.I bought beer and allowed my son's eighteen year old friends to drink and party and sleep down there overnight to get them off the roads.Their protection and others. But I hear how bad we are to do things such as this so whats worse?Allow them to drink and drive and hope things turned out ok because they WILL do it !Sad but true I feel.

I took a group of Midwestern students to NYC on a college field trip. Many of these students had never been out of the state, their family's never traveled. They had no idea how to behave, no understanding of proper precautions. A group of male students broke the rules, left the hotel, went out drinking and got separated. Unfortunately one of them was beaten and robbed. He was drunk had no idea where he was, no idea where he was staying.

There is definitely a group mentality that takes over in large groups of young people. Unfortunately they just don't think about consequences. The consequence of my student's actions was that the University has now cancelled that trip.

The danger are more far-reaching than what was reported. In 1997 on a family trip to Freeport, Bahamas my 6th grade daughter was lured from a gift shop outside a hotel without my knowledge to "take a walk" with a stranger. It took security and family 2 hrs to find her. When found, she was walking back toward the hotel with a man who quickly disappeared. She swore that nothing happened but had hickies on her neck the next day. Management told us there was no way to find the man. She thought he was 18 and didn't know his last name. Often its about having experiences to tell their girlfriends about back home, maybe the girl just wants to have a "new boyfriend" and bad things happen because they appear eager. American girls of all ages seem to have the reputation of being highly sexualized. Therefore sex is the expected outcome of most encounters with males no matter where they are. Look at the images created through shows like "Girls Behaving Badly." Look at the video channels and the way young people "foreplay" as they dance in clubs with complete strangers, sometimes winding up drunk and raped in restrooms.
They don't deserve to be treated as sex objects, yet they think they have "freedom" and that they are in control of situations. It's the path that liberal society has taken them down and even the most caring parents can't protect them. Sadly, it's the girls, not the boys, who bare the emotional scars and bad memories and they don't know for several years if they have an STD from that "freedom" they experienced.

We are living in a dream world that doesn't see or hear about the actual horrors that occur in this country as well as foreign countries. The news media fails to report the killings and rapes in our cities, which number in the thousands per year, for the fear of offending people. But give it time and it will playing in a theater near you.

Judging Suzy and her parent's decision-making in this situation is an incredibly harsh way to view her situation. I'm very disappointed to see that the majority of the postings regarding this segment are so full of judgment and blame. The situation she found herself in while in Cancun can happen anywhere, especially in the U.S., whether or not she were with friends or family. Suzy did not deserve what happened to her, as no victim of rape ever does, and placing blame does not solve or justify what happened. If you've ever gone to the restroom or snackbar at a large public event (like a ballpark or fair) by yourself or even walked to your car in a parking lot at night by yourself then you have also placed yourself in situations just as vulnerable as Suzy found herself. No one is safe from predators; just because it hasn't happened yet to you or someone you love, doesn't mean it won't ever happen. So please, before judging the decisions Suzy and her parents made, realize you don't have to be in Cancun to get raped, and it wasn't Suzy's fault. She DID NOT ask for this and definitely did not deserve this. Take this for what it was: a strong, young woman warning others of her mistakes and her situation in hopes that others might better protect themselves.

I am Mexican born in the states but with the majority of family still in Mexico. I've been traveling to Cancun once a year (since I was 18) for the last 14 years. Teens go crazy when they are down these especially if it's the first time away from mom and dad and out of the country. The drinking age is 18 but they were serving me drinks when I was 13. Although danger is anywhere, remember that Mexico is another country and there is pretty much no justice system down there. It's easy to get into trouble as well as be a victim of a crime with no law enforcement to help you. It's not all bad but parents need to remind their teens to stay in groups constantly. Even though I'm 32 now, my parents still remind me never to wander around by myself when I go to Cancun or anywhere else in Mexico.

Parents, before you allow your teen to book a trip to Cancun, do your homework. The State Department has an excellent website full of information on travel. There is a section on 'Spring Break in Mexico'. Go to http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw
/spring_break_mexico/spring_break_mexico_2812.html

I am sorry to hear about Sue's situation. I am a thirty year old female world traveler. I have been to Mexico and Cancun. The only outlandish things that I have ever seen down there is the teenage american behavior. It is one of the safest places I have ever been to, in all of my world traveling,( the most unsafe place I have ever been was on a NYC subway !!!) In fact, most of my traveling experiense, I am usaually astonished and embarassed by young Americans. Would these girls be out drinking like this in there own backyard !!! Yes I had a wonderful time in Cauncun, it is a beautiful wonderful place. Why are these "kids" going down there and behaving inappropriately. Where is the parental responsiblity and what morals and common sense are taught to these kids. Instead of blaming these places for these occurance, which happen in the USA ALL THE TIME. People need to take more responsibiltiy for there own beahvior !!!

As a property owner in Cancun, I am glad to see that tourists are willing to go back to an area that was so hurt by Hurricane Wilma. BUT as a property owner in Cancun, I find it very difficult to understand why parents would allow their kids into an area where they can behave in any way they want and drink themselves silly. At home they cannot drink till they are 21, but in Cancun they are allowed to drink anything at the age of 18 and in many cases even under that age. These kids have no clue what they are in for, other then looking for a great time away from home and family. This is a big mistake. Those who do not hide in their rooms are in for all kinds of trouble. Would the same parents allow their kids to go out with people they do not know and homes they do not know anyone? Of course not, but they are willing to let them leave the country to get into all kinds of trouble without any hesitation. Parents-time for you to realize that your kids are still kids when it comes to the grown up world of hard drinkers and partiers. Let them have fun at home, and if they really want to go out of the country to celebrate their graduation, then let them go with you as a part of the family. The chances of them getting into any kind of trouble is much less and they will come home safe and happy, and perhaps enjoy the fun of being with their families, vs. coming home possibly in a coffin. This is a tough call for parents to make, but they should really think about it for a minute before agreeing to pay for this type of break from home.