Why is it not recommended to live with a host family?
25.02.2026
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- Your child may be placed with a family of people of non-traditional sexual orientation. Refusing to accept the offer is impossible; in Britain, this is considered discrimination.
- The culture shock is greater than living in a residence or hotel, as the family is often on a lower social level than the student.
- Illusions are shattered: no one greets you with a set meal, no one takes you sightseeing, no one engages in intimate conversations—the student is usually treated simply as a lodger.
- The house may be dirty and smoky, and the dog may be allowed to sleep on the beds, including yours.
- The wardrobe in your room may be filled with the host family's belongings.
- The family may eat fast food, Indian food, or some other food you don't like, but no one will change the menu for you.
- The student adapts to the existing lifestyle, not the family to the student. Sometimes they don't allow you to use the washing machine, and you have to take your laundry to a public laundromat.
- Children under 18 aren't given a front door key.
- They might give you a key, but losing it could cost you a pretty penny if the key was part of an expensive alarm system.
- Children under 18 may not be allowed to leave the house after dinner, and they'll be very bored within their own four walls while their hosts watch TV.
- Hosts may encounter a student intoxicated.
- Instead of blond Anglo-Saxons in England, you might be placed with African-Americans, Poles, Pakistanis, or Indians—they also hold British passports and are considered British citizens, and asking for a replacement family is unethical!
- In the US, being placed with an African-American family is very likely not to everyone's liking, but asking to be relocated due to your dislike of this race will result in legal action.
- The family ensures that the student doesn't steal anything. The family doesn't accompany students to the airport or wave a handkerchief: the student finds the check-in counter themselves.
- Shower access may be limited.
- Host families' compliance with sanitary standards is not monitored.
- Schools rarely check families for law-abidingness and mental health!
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