Communication Guidelines

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STUDENTS – CHECK EMAIL DAILY!

  • EMAIL IS THE PRIMARY WAY THAT ROTARY WILL COMMUNICATE WITH YOU. We realize students today prefer Snapchat and Instagram, but Rotarians use Email. Our expectation is you will check your email at least once every 24 hours, or more.
  • While on exchange, communicate by email with your parents up to once weekly, your sponsoring Rotary Club, and District 5100 Youth Exchange Officer once a month. 

Initial 90 Days on exchange – 

District 5100 has a long-standing guideline on communications that there be only one phone call on arrival and no other voice or video communications during the first 90 days of the exchange with parents or friends back home.  The thought behind the guideline is to allow the students time to adjust to their new cultures, and bond with their host families.  They need to become more dependent on themselves, their new families, Rotarians and less dependent on natural parents and friends back home. The student should call their parents to let them know they arrived safely and are with their host family. After that, email communication is OK, but should be kept to a minimum.

Family Emergencies

Rotary encourages the student and family to discuss family wishes in the event that there is an emergency during the year abroad – such as illness or death in the family. Please try to anticipate the student’s wishes and those of your family if you are confronted with a situation in which your early return home is a consideration. 

We ask families not to send bad news to students by e-mail, voice-mail or on the telephone without first notifying Rotary. We can help make certain you are not alone when receiving bad news. We have had occasions where students have actually panicked and left the country to return home following their receipt of bad news without notifying ANYONE of their whereabouts or intentions.

Most often, when a student is called home for a family emergency, it is not an option to return to your host country. Any emergency that causes you to leave should be very serious.

If it becomes necessary to bring the student home due to a medical condition, or some pandemic, Rotary will have developed a set of emergency procedures and protocols to follow. Rotary may make recommendations, but the final decision to bring a student home rests with the parents.

Video Chatting 

With the smartphones and social media available in today’s communication video chatting with someone on the other side of the world is like talking to someone in the next room.  We cannot enforce the communication guideline but know that excess communication back home, rather initiated by the student, the parents or friends, can result in extended homesickness, slow the needed adjustment to a new culture, and result in early returns. THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE REASON EXCHANGES FAIL.

Social Media

The use of social media to communicate back home should be minimized through the exchange. Following along with what the student’s friends are doing back at home only fosters homesickness and a fear of missing out. Additionally, social media should be used responsibly, and postings that could needlessly offend are forbidden.  No matter how private you think these communications are, they aren’t. 

With Host Family

  • The Student is responsible to communicate with their host family prior to the exchange.
  • Parents are asked to encourage students to seek advice from Host Parents. The Host parent knows their own home, town and country.  Without host parents there would be no exchange. 
  • Parents are also asked to refrain from interfering in Host Family issues.  If you interfere with the workings of your host home, it is likely that your student will be returned home.  Remember, if you make the exchange too much trouble for or work for the hosts, they will probably wish they had not gotten involved.  Give your student the best possible chance for success by allowing the host family to do their job.

Submit Monthly Reports 

District 5100, particularly your Country Officer, wants to hear from you regularly about your exchange. This is so they can support you through any challenges you may be facing, stay up to date with your activities, and live a little bit vicariously through you! Additionally, District 5100 is required to keep a record of your exchange activities during the year. We must have a monthly report from you in order to accomplish this. Therefore, you will be asked to submit a monthly report to your Country Officer. Your reports are due on the last day of every month. They will vary in format based on the month and on your Country Officer’s style– via email, or sometimes via a link sent to you. Sometimes your Country Officer will send a request with particular questions, or the format may be the same each time. Please send updates to your sponsor club in the form of postcards, letters, or emails about your experiences. Those are always fun to get and share with other Rotarians.

Report Guide Here is an example of the information that should be included in each monthly report:

“This report covers the month of: ***”

    • Your Name
    • Name of Host Rotary 
    • Club YEO’s Name and Phone Number 
    • Host Family’s Name/ Phone # / Address
    • Change of Host Family – Keep us updated on where you are living. We need this information in case of an emergency.

These are some ideas of the things we want to hear about: 

    • What you are doing in school: new/favorite/least favorite subjects, clubs, sports, friends
    • Social activities: getting connected in your school, through extracurriculars, or in your community. What social events, parties, dances, etc. have you gone to this month?
    • Language learning: steps you are taking, how you feel you have improved this month, major milestones (first conversation with no English, able to get your point across, complimented on your accent, dreaming in host language, etc.).
    • Your Rotary activities: meetings attended, speaking, travel to other clubs, Rotarians you’ve met
    • My relationship with my counselor, (are you getting regular contact with him/her?) 
    • Is your host club taking the time to get to know you?
    • Your personal experiences: Have you had any illnesses, problems with host families, problems in school. What solutions have you found?
    • Travels?
    • Visits with other exchange students?
    • What are you learning? What do you like here? What don’t you like here?
    • Near the end of the year, please be certain that you communicate your return travel plans including the date you are departing and your full travel itinerary.

After Sending Your Report

If you share a concern in your monthly report or your Country Officer has a concern after reading it, they may offer some advice if you are facing a challenge or are discouraged or feeling homesick. They may connect you to a Rotex who can relate more directly to your experience or offer the services of one of our counselors if appropriate. They may suggest that you seek out help from your host family or host Rotary Club if you have not already done so — remember, these people are there with you and are often a better support system than people back home.

If you have a concern but do not share it, we can’t help you. Remember, we are all here to help you succeed on your exchange, but we can only do that if you are honest and open with us. Everyone faces challenges on exchange, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.