Chris, the problem you describe is not just something that could happen on EF tours; it could happen on any student tour, regardless of which company they go with. The tour managers are not chaperones, something that many people do not realize (or perhaps they don't want to believe it). The chaperones are the teachers and the other adults the teachers bring along. If there is a free afternoon in the itinerary (there are always a few, and they're a good thing to have), the tour manager will make some suggestions of sights to see and places to go, but that's it. The chaperones are then responsible for supervising the students - or not, which happens on many, if not most, high school trips.

I totally support your recommendation for parents. They should attend all the pretrip meetings with the teacher in charge and ask many questions about supervision. It's sad to say, but whereas most teachers plan these trips as true educational experiences, a few see it as a free trip to take with friends, and then spend most of it partying themselves. You can imagine what kind of freedom those students have!

I don't know anything about the incident you descibe, but it sounds like the tour manager was perhaps very young. That's a shame, but the incident probably could have happened with even the most experienced tour manager if the chaperones weren't "with it." So yes, parents, be careful! Talk to the teachers in charge, and talk to the kids!