Rich parents pay top dollar for high school spring break trips as vacation tragedies rattle families

Spring break is looking different for high school students across the country as parents opt for chaperoned trips out of the country for their teens. 

Trips organized by tour companies such as GradCity, offer underage kids the opportunity to let loose on an all-inclusive, supervised getaway. 

"Any spring break trip with vetted adult chaperones is better and safer than those without, especially when high school students are looking to travel to common high-energy, ‘party’ destinations," Cory Wenter, a U.S. Marine veteran specializing in presidential security, told Fox News Digital.

"It’s important that parents do their research and due diligence to ensure agencies, like GradCity, have strict safety protocols in place when hiring and training their chaperones and staff." 

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GradCity boasts its packages "offer a curated program highlighted by day [and] night events with a full on-site team [at the] destination, making our senior trips the ultimate travel experience," according to its website. 

The lavish vacation experience provides students with the chance to network in some of the hottest travel destinations – including Punta Cana and Nassau – where the drinking age is 18 years old, and ID checks are relaxed. Trips can run parents thousands of dollars, with alcohol not included in the upfront fare. 

"Our programs are designed to give students the freedom to enjoy their graduation with friends, while also offering peace of mind to parents through our on-site team presence, structured itineraries and years of experience managing group travel," Kathleen Osland, a spokesperson for GradCity, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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But families are willing to pay the price if it means their teens can swap Snapchats with students from different schools, opening up a new age of networking as they prepare to head off to college.

Despite the attractive offer, not everyone is on board. 

Exclusive private schools with students flocking to swipe their parents’ credit cards are sounding the alarm on unsanctioned trips by reminding families that the vacations are not supported by administrators. 

Topher Nichols, a spokesperson for The Dalton School in Manhattan, told Fox News Digital, "[the school] does not sponsor, organize, or endorse these trips."

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The school, which charges upwards of $65,000 for its annual tuition, implores parents to determine if the risk is worth the reward. 

"We inform families that participation is a personal decision and encourage them to consider all factors carefully," Nichols said in a statement. 

The industry of chaperoned trips ushers in a more polished take on the classic spring break tradition that has historically been marred with stories of fighting, missing persons and even death. As a result, GradCity guarantees high school students will be chaperoned during each scheduled activity and provides travelers with a 24-hour emergency hotline. 

"GradCity provides the highest team-to-student ratio in the industry to assist in your student’s safety and ensure they have the time of their life," GradCity tells potential travelers’ parents on their website.  

The trips come at a time when more high school students are opting in to spring break, as cities throughout the country are opting out.

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Last month, Miami Beach announced the city would be cracking down on revelers for the second year in a row. 

City officials launched a reality-TV-themed ad campaign warning spring breakers their presence was unwelcome after the beachfront oasis saw an uptick in violence in 2020.

In 2024, Miami Beach made 256 spring break-related arrests over the span of two weeks in March, successfully curbing the violence and keeping unruly visitors at bay. 

As a result, more high school students are turning to trips outside the country in search of fewer rules and more fun. 

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Earlier this month, University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, 20, vanished from a Punta Cana beach after a night of drinking with friends. She reportedly drowned, but her remains have not been found. 

In 2023, 18-year-old Cameron Robbins, a recent Louisiana high school graduate, jumped overboard into "shark-infested waters" while on a cruise in the Bahamas with friends. Following an exhaustive, two-day-long search, the U.S. Coast Guard ended its search for Robbins. 

"Parents need to have hard conversations with themselves and their children to determine if they’re ready for such freedoms," Wenter said. "Oftentimes, kids get into trouble on spring break trips because they are doing something they should not have been. Pushing and testing limits is exactly what adolescence is for. It does come at a cost, and parents need to know if their children are capable of making smart decisions in moments of peer pressure and opportunity."

Kate Gladdin’s 24-year-old sister, Nicole, tragically died in a motorbike accident while traveling with her boyfriend in Thailand in 2012. Gladdin, an Australia native, attended a chaperoned trip following her graduation from high school, and works to educate parents and students about travel safety in light of her sister’s death. 

"[Kids can have] that invincibility mindset," Gladdin told Fox News Digital. "I think the influence of social media – seeing people travel, seeing them on the edge of cliffs and on the back of bikes without helmets – and you think that's the cool thing to do. What's cool is putting your safety first."

Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.