This is a personal decision, but we recommend that before your student departs from home that you discuss the best avenues of communication (email, telephone, Zoom, FaceTime) and how often you both want to communicate.
Many families find that regular weekly or biweekly email communication works well. Agreeing on a regular day of the week to communicate can help keep you updated on your student’s activities without impinging on their need to explore their new environment and become acquainted with the people around them.
Online video chats or online telephone conversations can be helpful in situations where you need to discuss something important together to reach a decision, although overuse can lead to your student becoming more dependent on you instead of more independent. It’s helpful to remember that just because you can communicate daily with your student doesn’t mean that this amount of communication will actually help them plunge into their new situation. In fact, sometimes too much communication with home can cause the reverse: The student spends too much time on the computer and not enough time exploring their new environment and focusing on new acquaintances. This can lead to increased isolation and diminished experiences which in turn can cause a significant downturn in their feelings about being in the study abroad location.
Some families are used to using cell phones to communicate often and rapidly within the United States. Please bear in mind that depending on the country and region your student is heading to, cell phone communication may be readily available, but expensive, so cell phones are best used locally while in-country. There is also a chance cell phone connectivity may be spotty or unavailable.
Make sure before your student leaves that you have the following:
- The email address they will be using while away.
- A phone number where they can be reached (homestay family, dorm room or cell phone). If this information isn’t available before your student departs, or they are going to buy a cell phone or a new SIM card after arrival in the host country, have an agreement about when they are going to give you that telephone number.
- The street address (including the street number or name/number of the building) of either the sponsoring program or the location where your student will be staying so that you can send them packages by airmail if necessary.
- Make sure that you have the telephone/fax/email information for the program administrator overseas in case of an emergency.
- In an emergency, you may also contact the Smith Campus Police, who can reach the associate director for international study outside of regular office hours.