Lynnaustin

I read that you trusted the U.S. agency, just assumed that you trusted your daughter. Of course, trust is important but so is having the life skills necessary to deal with the situation and those aren't skills developed by the age of 16.

I agree that she won't be abducted, nor will she spend every evening at home alone. It's the in-between that can be scary for a 16 year old girl. All of her roommates will be strangers too.
It just seems odd to me that the agency would send a minor child to be away and alone like this (wouldn't they worry about liability?).
I have noticed that in the replies the posters who have daughters (or indicated that they did) have said "no" or have said with certain strict conditions.

StCirq

travelerjan, I am thoroughly familiar with kamaki, and as I said in my post I have no idea if it's the same now as it was back when I was in Athens.

However, I asked our two foreign exchange students who live with us here now - one is 24 and one is 30 - about their recent experiences in Greece, and they both shook their heads and said "Oh boy, worst place in the world to be hassled by men." Then they both recounted stories similar to what I wrote. The Spaniard said she was afraid for her life (though she is prone to drama and exaggeration and has tld us stories of being hassled here in DC that seem a bit overblown).

I'm trying to be reasonable here, but maybe things haven't changed so much.

Both students, by the way said they would never have opted to go to Athens alone at 16 and that their parents (Spanish and Ukrainian) would never have allowed them to.

Heimdall

Athens isn't (or shouldn't) be the issue here. What I find curious is that you seem willing to put a lot of trust in people you've never even met. In the OP you wrote:

<i>She would live in an apartment with other models (most a few years older than her).</i>

and:

<i>Her only real "supervision" would be the agent contact in Athens & us via skype & phone back home. The models are there to work & develop their careers. Any sort of partying or non-professional behavior (i.e. late to appointments, out late at night) is met with a prompt return home & is not tolerated.</i>

In other words you intend to let your 16 y.o. daughter live in an apartment with adult models and have no real supervision. How will the agency know what she is doing at night if she isn't being supervised? My guess is she will be doing the same things the older girls do, and hanging out with their older friends, not the typical things young teenagers do.

My daughter set out by herself on a round-the-world trip when she was still only 18, so I'm not one of those over-controlling parents. But 16 is a lot different from 18. Were it me, I would be looking for a family she could stay with and provide some supervision. In Greece, btw, children tend to remain in the family home much longer than in many other countries. A 16 y.o. living away from her parents would be very unusual.

cathies

Not if hell froze over!!! If she has the potential to be a model, then she can still do it in a few years. Something else to keep in mind is that the Greek language is difficult in that even the letters won't be familiar to her. So, what I mean is that if she was to get lost in say, Paris, at least the signage would be familiar, but Greece is hard to manage if you don't have any language.

Sure you can trust your daughter, but I would have NO reason to trust the other models (who you say are older) or all those gorgeous young Greek men.

hetismij

A couple of questions.
Will she get a work permit at 16 for this trip - she will need one after all if she is really to be doing modelling work there. Have you even looked into that?

What about her education? This trip is during school time. What will she do about catching up on lessons?

How does this trip to Greece develop her career as a model in a way which it wouldn't or couldn't develop in the US?

raspberry7

...and of course you are aware of the fact that your daughter ist still underage!

Have you wasted ANY thoughts about the legal side of this "opportunity": responsability, payments, contracts, contractual agreements, legal representation in Greece (the "sister agency"? HA!)

forget it!

Tulips

If this is such a good opportunity for her, I would stay with her in Athens. There's no way I would let my 16-year old stay in Athens in a model flat.
I don't know the law in Greece; is it legal for a 16-year old to work and live unsupervised?

No matter how clever, independent, trustworthy she is; 16 is too young to live alone, especially in a foreign country where she doesn't speak the language.

poutine

My nephew (now 19) works as a model, and goes to Europe a couple of times a year for 3 - 6 weeks at a time. The agency he works for does not send under 18's (they used to, but too many "issues" of various types made doing so problematic). So, from the point of view of a modelling agency, they see it as not advantageous enough to send a 16 y.o. over.

danon

A good friend has a daughter in the modeling business. She started modeling with Coco Rocha, but was not as successful. The parents would not let her travel until she was 18.
She did not always have the best experience sharing apt. with other models. In Milan , one of the roommates stole her passport and all her CC. The parents had to fly there to sort things out. According to her dad, some apt. and agencies abroad were decent, but not all.

amer_can

I read your query with interest and must add my NO WAY!!!! I was in Athens and some of the islands with my daughter, 20 yr old grandson and 19 year old grand daughter..It was a great experience but one must be alert at all times. We stayed at a reccomended hostel on Ios and the kids went out with a group from Franciscos Inn.The young Aussie, who did the van pick ups and bag carrying for elders (me) told the group not to come home alone. He would be nearby whereever they were going and would make sure all was ok. He said and I can remember it clearly---***Guys here don't think like the guys you are used to at home.--- Considering the excitement of the trip for your daughter and where she will want to go to site/sight see you had better take the time to go with her. 16 is too young to be alone in any foreign/unfamiliar environment..

november_moon

Put me in the "no" category too. I don't have kids, but I am just thinking about myself at that age and I don't think it is a good idea. And I was a good kid, decent student, mostly trustworthy, not at all naive, fairly independent and self-sufficient, had been working for a few years already. In this case, it is the living with older models and the lack of supervision that bothers me. It just seems like this is putting a kid into a situation that she probably doesn't have the maturity and life skills to handle.

Now, if mom or dad (or other trusted family member or friend) could go with the girl, then I say go for it, what a wonderful opportunity.

awsimpson

Okay, listen to that inner voice that has you "scared to death." It is not our job as parents to let all things wonderful happen for our children. She is a child and will be so for a couple of more years. If this is an opportunity of a lifetime for her, make it for you as well. Take a leave of absence and go with her. Otherwise, from one mother to another, the answer is clearly, no.

nytraveler

In terms of legal issues, many models are emancipated early - so they can sign contracts etc and parents don;t have to be with them every minute (even here in the US).

And no - if the opportunity is here now, it might not be in 2 or 3 years - models are young. The girls that look 25 are 18 and the ones that look 18 are 15. Starting at 22 is OLD for a model.

But, that said - the OP knows her daughter best. If she would let her do this In New York - accepting that the situation has NO supervision - then Greece isn't much different. If she is assuming that there is ANY supervision she is living in a dream.

annhig

an acquaintance of ours had a daughter who went into modelling at age 18, and was working in Italy. Her mum went out there with her and lived with her for some time. eventually she decided that the life was not for her - health [specifically anorexia], being a major reason.

I would be as worried about her eating properly as about anything else. the pressures on young models are tremendous.

kismetchimera

Strange but last night I was watching a report about human trafficking and sex slaves..

The girls that were abducted were promising a job as models, they were young and attractive.

No way I would send my 16 sheltered American daughter alone across the world to work as a model .

I may trust her but not her older co-workers.

Heimdall

Lots of responses to this thread but for one notable exception — the OP! ;-)

wyatt92

Not unless I was going with her. I have an 18 year old son who has grown up in the city and is a super independent kid. I would have been a nervous wreck to let him go to Athens for 6 weeks and stay with older guys with no supervision when he was 16. And it would be even worse with a girl.

Think about it. Of course if she misses her go-sees and such she'll be sent home. But how does that guarantee that she won't be out partying and doing god knows what else? It doesn't. Especially if she's with girls who are 18-19 years old as you claim she'll be.

gruezi

Well, I would have a very hard time letting my girls become models so that would be my first issue. I think it is an industry that promotes a lot of things I don't value for young women.

My daughters are 16 and 20 and have traveled 'alone' quite a bit. I think the issues for this trip are more about the industry and its questionable reputation, the fact that you do not know the other young people and certainly should not count on them to look out for your child, and the possibility of other people realizing your daughter, likely very attractive, is alone in Athens.

I have to decide whether to let my 16 year old go to Tanzania alone and so I was curious the kinds of responses you would get. Well, by the time she goes she'll be 17 and has been there twice before...

good luck.

gruezi

nytraveler

Agree that no responses form the OP mean either, dare I say it - TROLL!

Or else a clueless parent in shock at the responses (Very Unlikely).

SusanG

I want to state right up front, that I do not have children (sadly) so I am not an expert. There are a lot of great things being said on this post - and the thing is - it really isn't so much you trusting your daughter. She is young and inexperienced.It's about the other people she comes into contact with. You have to weight the risks and ask yourself if it is worth it to your daughter's career to put her at risk like that. Now, if you were there....it would be different. A lot of scary things happen to young women in the world. I remember once in my 20s - I had a huge fight with my mother and yelled "You are so paranoid!" and she looked at me and said, "Yes my dear, and I have three living daughters." So again, just one woman's opinon. Good luck. Susan