Being treated poorly constantly is the norm with Nord Anglia's guides.
As a student, Nord Anglia trips are a big privilege that I get to attend as a student, although having good experiences with locals and learning about different cultures (Tanzania and Switzerland) I want to complain about the staff members working to take care of the kids. I understand working with kids can be a difficult mission to accomplish as two guides are usuarry taking care of one or more schools. The thing is, these guides are helped by teachers from those schools that KNOW how to make their kids behave without making them feel incompetent for every mistake they make and just ruining the experienced they payed them to have. Having a minimum wage job sucks, what also sucks is paying 2000-3000€ for a week promoted as "learning, exploring and having fun" just to be yelled at every second of the day. I may not get the best grades in school but what I am is obedient and respectful with adults, since I was a kid I have always disliked doing anything against rules. In my trip in Switzerland I woke up every single day at 6AM like they said, was never late to breakfast, waited patiently with my hand up for a question and brought all the items I needed in the checklist. I was yelled at for one of my classmates being ONE minute late for breakfast, what they do when that happens is blame the entire table that sits with them and humiliate them in front of other schools, they also make you eat breakfast last as a "punishment" which with all due respect we care more about our dignity as individuals than eating 5 min later than usual. Apparently me having my hand raised for questions after they said "If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask" was also an issue as they saw it as demanding and although I thankfully didn't get yelled out for this one I did get called out in front of everyone as if I was doing something wrong. Having a genuine question about something that could prevent me from having bronchitis in the middle of Switzerland shouldn't be something to be humiliated on. As a teenager being surrounded by strangers from my own school and being called out for the smallest thing just to be seen as a joke is very disrespectful. I understand guiding me in the mountains and telling me what I'm doing wrong, what I won't tolerate as a woman is men around me swearing, running around and just acting childish without being called out as "Boys will be boys!" but I get mansplained how to use sticks in a mountain and every topic I talk about becomes a debate and my knowledge is doubted constantly. I hated it when my school mates were annoying me during dinner time, being loud around me, stealing my food and just bothering me in general, the person that was doing this to me I knew he hated tickles, I poked him gently poked him once on the stomach and I got yelled at and punished because of his reaction when getting tickled. I will be studying in psychology soon and i cannot imagine what a sensory nightmare this all would be for someone with autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder or even depression. I loved the places I was at, hated the people introducing me to them, please hire people that don't hate their life and others, hire someone that treats people as humans and not garbage just because of their age. Suicide prevention is a real thing, you never know the battles people are fighting and it takes nothing to be nice. Be better.





