TCU students received an email on Mar. 7 warning them about the dangers of travel to Mexico and giving them other travel tips for Spring Break.
Still, some students are planning on travelling to Mexico over the break.
“I do feel like it’s [travel to Mexico] still safe seeing that it is the second year in a row that they’ve sent that email,” said Cal Swarbrick, a sophomore political science major.
Swarbrick and his friends will travel to Cancun over the break, he said.
The warning about travelling in Mexico came from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular affairs in a Feb. 8 statement. The statement said there was no warning for Cancun, Cozumel, Playa de Carmen or Rivera Maya.
The email also encouraged students to read up on travel information and to practice safe drinking habits.
Students should be aware of the different ordinances and drinking laws in other places and look them up online, Johnny Nhan, an assistant professor of criminal justice said.
“If you’re going south of the border or out of the country, be very familiar with the laws and don’t assume there is due process if you get arrested,“ he said.
Rights as a U.S. citizen don’t extend to places outside of the U.S., Nhan said. This means if a student was arrested, their parents probably wouldn’t be able to find them or bail them out.
“Certain areas of Mexico aren’t very stable these days, so stay away from there,” Ronald Burns, a professor of criminal justice, said.
Identification and contact information should be kept on students at all times or shared with whoever they’re travelling with, Burns said.
To stay safe, Swarbrick said he and his friends exchanged their numbers as well as their parents numbers so everyone could get in contact with one another.
If students are travelling abroad they should also carry a photocopy of their passport or email a copy to themselves as well in case theirs gets lost or stolen, Yvonne Giovanis, associate director of the Alcohol & Drug Education Center, said.
Students should also check if their insurance covers them abroad or high-risk behaviors such as water skiing or zip-lining, she said.
“The common sense things that apply at TCU or home apply [in vacation destinations] as well,” Burns said. “Just be smart and if something seems like it’s not a good idea it probably isn’t.”
Students should also be cautious of pictures they are in or what pictures they post themselves, Nhan said. Drunken pictures could portray students in a compromising position that may affect future employment.
“A lot of students presume that since it’s Spring Break and it’s an area where there are a lot of festivities going on and its kind of like its a zone of immunity from law enforcement and where underage drinking is allowed,” he said. “That's largely a myth and there’s a big risk with that because there are a lot of police departments that more heavily enforce those types of areas.”