>> Charlsie: The following...
♪ ♪
This is marketplace.
Trip of a lifetime
or a trip into trouble?
Sold as safe and supervised.
>> Kids are drinking and there
is no supervision, things will
escalate.
>> What if he encouraged a
friend to go on this trip and
that friend was the kid who got
hurt?
>> Charlsie: We follow
hundreds of Canadian teenagers
to Cuba to see if it's worth the
money and the worry.
This is your marketplace.
♪ ♪
[cheers]
>> Charlsie: We're under cover.
Under the Cuban sun.
Posing as tourists.
We made it!
♪ ♪
We've landed with
a big group of Canadian high
school students as they're about
to begin the trip of a lifetime.
♪ ♪
That's the promise from the
travel company that organizes
all this.
>> S-Trip!
[cheers]
>> Charlsie: S-Trip is one of
Canada's fastest-growing
companies.
The "s" stands for student.
Every year, S-Trip makes
millions of dollars bringing
teenagers to Caribbean resorts
like this one, to celebrate
march break and high school
graduation.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
The company's promotional
material paints a pretty picture
for parents.
Of sun and sand,
fun and friends.
>> My favourite experience here
would be winning Mrs. S-Trip.
>> It's a good vibe all around.
♪ ♪
>> Charlsie: S-Trip emphasizes
chances to explore local culture
and to volunteer abroad, and it
promises safe travel
experiences.
♪ ♪
[screaming]
What they don't mention
is all the drinking.
[cheering]
Much of it underage.
[cheering]
♪ ♪
[chanting]
[cheering]
>> Charlsie: Captured in
dozens of YouTube videos, posted
by students themselves,
and viewed by thousands.
>> You gotta get out of
Sophie's bed.
>> Just drag him, Tyler.
[laughing]
[chanting]
>> Charlsie: It's risky
behaviour that threatens
personal safety...
and S-Trip's carefully-crafted
image.
As these student videos show,
their trips of a lifetime
can become trips into trouble.
♪ ♪
There's an S-Trip code of
conduct that everyone is
supposed to follow.
The code calls on students to
sign in three times a day with
staff.
They're the ones in the blue and
yellow shirts.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
>> Charlsie: It's part of a
safety system S-Trip says leads
the industry and one of the
reasons parents pay so much for
these trips.
Roughly $1,800 a student.
Double the going rate for a
Cuban resort in July.
>> Okay. So here we are
at the TRYP Cayo Coco.
We just checked in.
The woman at the desk was trying
to persuade us to stay on the
other side of the hotel, the
quiet side, that's because this
is where all the action is going
to be.
She was telling us by the end of
the week, we can expect upwards
of 900 Canadian students so this
is where the action's going to
be, this is where we wanted to
be, too.
900 grade 12 students heading
this way.
But the sales process that's
bringing them here begins months
before, in grade 11.
>> This is where the meeting
happened?
>> Yeah, right by here, high
school's all the way back there.
>> Charlsie: Adam Jackson of
Uxbridge, Ontario was only 17
and in grade 11 when he first
heard about the grad trip to
Cayo Coco, so he headed to a
meeting in the middle
of a parking lot.
First time you meet this person
you're here in the middle of a
parking lot.
>> Yeah, it's a bit strange.
This is where we first met.
Apparently she just came, just a
young woman, she drove here in
her car and we pretty much
huddled around her car.
I thought it would be in the
school or something, but, yeah,
this is where we ended up.
>> Charlsie: Among the group,
several students S-Trip had
chosen to be organizers like the
ones in this company video.
Their job was to convince their
classmates to sign up.
>> If they got enough people to
recruit, they would be going for
free, so that was the big
motive, especially for a lot of
the students.
>> Charlsie: It's a key
strategy for S-Trip outlined in
that same video.
>> Organizers gets all the
people, gets them hyped for the
trip.
>> We pretty much get everybody
hyped up.
Our whole school.
>> Charlsie: S-Trip identifies
influential students, offers
them perks and uses them to sell
the trip.
>> We just attended a meeting
for all the organizers.
We all got information about the
trip, what we should tell to
other people coming on the trip,
how to make the trip sound
exciting.
>> Charlsie: S-Trip says
student organizers learn
leadership skills and time
management.
>> You're going to want to
become an organizer if you're in
high school.
>> Charlsie: Put another way,
underage kids sell other
underage kids on a party trip,
one that is not sanctioned by
schools.
♪ ♪
Did you think it was a school
trip when they first started
talking about it?
>> Honestly, I thought it was a
bit connected to school because
I knew they had to go through
school to reach us but
originally I did think it was a
school trip.
>> Charlsie: Adam's not the only
one.
Many parents we hear from say
they too think it's a school
trip, including Adam's dad, Ed,
who's a school teacher.
What did you first think when
Adam came home and told you
about this trip to Cuba?
>> Well, I thought it would be a
good experience for him.
He hadn't been on school trips
per se, and so one of the things
we liked about it, that it would
be from the website we looked at
 S-Trip, it would be sort of
supervised and so there was a
level of comfort for that.
>> Charlsie: Ed never looked
much beyond the official S-Trip
website and its promise that
safety is non-negotiable.
Kathy Colaiacovo dug deeper.
She's both a mom and a marketer
down in Cole Harbour,
Nova Scotia.
When your son comes home and
says this is S-Trip.
>> Instinctively you think
school trip, why wouldn't you
think it? And I certainly did.
>> Charlsie: Her son applied
to be an organizer and so when
 S-Trip staffers sent Kathy an
email.
>> The words she used in the
email were words like, it's a
good volunteer experience for
your son, he'll get some good
skills like time management and
project management, things he
can use on a resume.
They kind of seemed to be
coaching my kid into what to say
to me to get him to go on the
trip because the words in the
email were reiterating what he
had been telling us,
which really weren't his
typical way of talking.
>> Charlsie: With her
suspicions raised,
Kathy went on YouTube.
It was then she realized it was
not a school trip.
>> My husband and I talked about
it, we looked at some of the
videos, some of them are pretty
graphic.
At that point, we said "no" and
I e-mailed the woman back and
told her she was never to get in
touch with my son again.
>> Charlsie: We ask Kathy to
show us some of the videos she
saw posted by students who've
been on S-Trips.
>> Nothing but liquor in the
body.
>> Yo, you're looking damn
good in those shorts!
[cheering]
>> There's a lot of, um, girls
getting touched on their breasts
in a lot of the pictures.
It's teenagers, I have three,
I kind of get some of it.
But at the same time, what you
don't see is the supposed
chaperones that they have
watching your kids.
♪ ♪
>> I'm Blain and I like to
party.
♪ ♪
Let's get it.
>> Jump out, Blain.
>> Yeah.
♪ ♪
>> I don't know if you really
want to show this on the TV.
>> Charlsie: Why is that, what
is this?
>> Because.
>> Charlsie: What is he doing?
>> He's...
um...
yeah, I don't even want to look
at it, to be honest.
I do not want that to be my kid.
And I don't want it to be any of
my kids' friends either.
>> Charlsie: He just took his
penis out.
>> And put them on the other
kid's face.
>> Charlsie: And they filmed it.
>> Yes, yeah. So that's not
going to be my kid.
And what really bothered me
about the organizing part was
what if he encouraged a friend
to go on this trip and that
friend was the kid who got hurt
or in trouble?
I would have
so much guilt about that.
>> Charlsie: That kind of
worry has principals across
Canada sending out cautions.
Students will not be supervised
by my staff in any way.
I want to repeat that this is
not a school trip.
Students have virtually no adult
supervision.
A number of serious issues are
brought to my attention each and
every year.
Please exercise caution.
We see evidence S-Trip has
worries of its own.
Stickers that warn students to
be careful on balconies.
♪ ♪
But are they listening?
As things heat up at TRYP Cayo
Coco?
♪ ♪
It doesn't look like it if you
check those YouTube videos these
students love to share.
♪ ♪
[screaming, cheering]
♪ ♪
>> So today's plan is that we go
and get tanned and then we go
and get [indiscernible].
>> Charlsie: For most of these
kids, it's their first time with
such easy access to alcohol.
24/7.
The S-Trip code says you have to
be 18 and over and drink
responsibly.
[cheering]
♪ ♪
See those green wrist bands?
That means the student can drink
here in Cuba.
Even though back home,
many would still be underage.
♪ ♪
But even those without green
bands are drinking.
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Don't slap me!
I got a sunburn.
>> Charlsie: So much for the
code of conduct, which also says
you have to be completely sober
when swimming.
♪ ♪
♪ [club music]
It carries on into the night.
The S-Trip code says quiet hours
begin at 10:00 p.m.
But that's also when the
official S-Trip party really
gets started.
I head into the crowd to mingle.
So you all just graduated.
>> Yeah.
>> Congratulations.
What do you do all day?
Party. So what does that mean?
>> Charlsie: You asked for two
and they gave --
>> Charlsie: You feel bad.
>> Charlsie: Drunk, horny
teenagers. Okay.
>> Charlsie: So you guys
are all 18.
>> Charlsie: They don't care?
You just go up to the bar?
>> Charlsie: Really?
♪ ♪
>> Charlsie: What happens when
the party heats up?
>> They all try to get you drunk
and take advantage of you.
>> Charlsie: And secrets
from a former S-Trip
leader on your marketplace.
Get marketplace in your in-box
once a week.
Sign up for our newsletter at
cbc.ca/marketplace.
♪ ♪
>> Charlsie: Grad trip
confessions on your
 marketplace.
♪ ♪
We're poolside at a Cuban resort
along with hundreds of Canadian
high school students.
♪ ♪
The drinks are flowing but not
everyone is having that promised
trip of a lifetime.
We notice one girl, mostly off
on her own, clearly not enjoying
the party vibe.
We catch up with her inside the
resort's internet cafe.
>> So where are you from?
Sudbury, oh.
I live just outside of Toronto.
Yeah. Are you having fun?
>> Oh, really?
>> Just not your thing?
>> No.
♪ ♪
>> Charlsie: We watch from our
balcony as S-Trip staffers
organize the day's activities.
A battle of the sexes with an
 S-Trip DJ setting the tone.
♪ ♪
For families just arriving,
it's likely not the greeting
they were expecting.
Down at the beach, S-Trip
staffers link arms with students
and raise voices in a vulgar
chant.
[chanting]
Parents we talk to who have seen
 YouTube videos like these worry
about such a sexually-charged
environment.
>> What the (bleep) are you
doing?
>> Charlsie: And so do some of
the girls we run into.
>> Charlsie: Really?
>> Yeah, have fun with your
girlfriends.
[cheering]
>> It's disgusting.
>> Charlsie: The man in the
hoodie used to work for S-Trip.
>> This isn't surprising.
>> Charlsie: He asked us not to
identify him.
Does any of this strike you as
out of the ordinary?
>> Not at all.
>> So this would be --
>> Tuesday night, pick a day,
pick a night.
And it happens every night.
The overall safety of these
students, which is absolutely
driven home to parents and
students, it is ignored
at every turn.
These students,
they're a cash cow to them.
>> Charlsie: He was a trip
leader but quit in disgust.
>> It was just a complete
eye-opener.
Underage drinking, sexual
activity, no monitoring of who
was drinking and, you know,
essentially what is going on
with the students.
>> Charlsie: When he saw other
staff encouraging lewd
behaviour, he complained.
And got nowhere.
>> It's frustration, it's anger,
it's sadness that these events,
you know, can be taking place
with complete disregard for the
students' safety and, you know,
complete opposition to what they
were promoting and, you know, a
few times I would think if I was
a parent, I would not have my
child here right now.
If I knew what was going on,
I would be on a flight down
here to get my child and bring
them home.
>> Chug, chug, chug!
Everybody!
>> Charlsie: Adam Jackson
couldn't even reach his parents
when things went bad on his
 S-Trip.
Can you tell me what happened
the night your stuff was stolen.
>> I was walking with one of my
friends I met on the trip and we
were walking past my hotel room
and we noticed the door was
completely wide open,
so we were just kind of like,
I was just like
I thought it was my roommate, he
might have left it open and I
thought that was weird so I
closed that, kept going.
Morning, everything's gone.
>> Everything's gone?
>> Yeah, both -- like everything
I really owned.
>> So what did they take?
>> They took both pairs of my
shoes, they took just, you know,
necklace, cash, everything
they could really find.
They took some clothes.
>> Charlsie: Adam loses more
than a thousand dollars
worth of stuff.
He's left with no money,
no shoes, and no sympathy from
 S-Trip staffers.
You go to S-Trip staff for help.
What did they do?
>> They pretty much said it
sucks,
they're like that's a shame.
I was trying to get some money
to get some Wi-Fi to tell my
parents that I got robbed, and I
was asking a bunch of S-Trip
people, they kept telling me no,
they don't have any money.
>> The fact that he got robbed
and I don't get a call or he
can't even call, they said too
bad, that to me is just like
whoa, what are you here for?
You're not doing your job.
>> So the care, the concern,
the looking after him,
that's what you thought you paid
for.
>> It just seemed to be, sorry,
tough luck sort of thing and
that to me is then why did we
pay $1,800 for this?
>> Charlsie: One of the most
interesting things about the
Jackson's story is that you're
hearing it at all.
 S-Trip offered Adam and Ed $500
after they demanded a refund as
long as they agreed to sign
this, a non-disclosure
agreement.
So there's also a line on there
that says when you accept this,
that you will not discuss this
situation with any third party.
>> Right.
>> How do you see this?
Here's your money but don't
talk about it with anybody?
>> It's called hush money.
>> Hush money.
[laughing]
>> There it is, straight ahead.
Will S-Trip
promise to crack down?
Searching for answers on your
 marketplace.
What do you think about this
story?
Share with us at
facebook.com/marketplace.
>> Charlsie: Stay safe
on your marketplace.
♪ ♪
Canadian high school students in
Cuba, enjoying cold drinks
on a hot day.
The company that brought them
here won't come on camera to
discuss the underage drinking
we've witnessed.
Or other threats to personal
safety we've documented.
From Cuban sand to Toronto
streets. We're outside S-Trip
headquarters because, despite
weeks of asking for an
interview, they won't let us
inside to talk.
They do, however, respond to our
investigation with a statement.
 S-Trip says...
>> Charlsie: The company says
that includes increased training
immediately and doubling staff
on all trips for this coming
summer.
But what about this winter when
 S-Trip also sends high school
students on trips to Québec?
[cheering]
There's another coming up
later this month.
>> Here we go, here we go!
>> Charlsie: YouTube videos
from recent years shows what
happens in Cuba happens in
Canada.
>> We're back to the hotel,
first night was success,
the night just was started.
It just started right now!
[chanting]
>> Charlsie: Something for
families to talk about.
>> David: Next week, we're back
on the case with this story...
>> marketplace goes in, finds
elevated levels of cadmium,
the Canadian public is now
aware of this.
Health Canada's moved.
>> Charlsie: And in the weeks
ahead, we'll have this story.
Looks like chicken,
tastes like chicken but how much
of it is really chicken?
>> They restructured it and kind
of reformed it.
>> Charlsie: marketplace
fires up the grill.
When I make chicken at home,
I don't use anywhere near
the number of ingredients.
>> 48 more ingredients
than I expected.
>> Would a diabetic person know
about sugar in chicken?
>> Charlsie: Putting your
favourite fast food grilled
chicken to the test.
>> They shouldn't be able to
call it chicken.
♪ ♪
