It’s that time of year again. Time when we pack away sweaters, coats, and boots. The sky brightens up, birds start singing, flowers begin to bloom, and students around the world begin the countdown to spring break.

For decades, Mexico has been a hotspot to hundreds of thousands of highschool and college springbreakers, and why the hell not? We have beautiful beaches, great hotels, fabulous food, incredible music, vibrant culture, and a legal drinking age of only 18.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory and universities across the U.S. are strongly urging students to avoid Mexico this year.

“Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat,” the advisory said. “Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico.

We have had documented violence, attacks, killings, shootouts with the drug cartels involving not only the military but law enforcement personnel. It is indiscriminate violence, and certainly innocent people have been caught up in that collateral damage.”

The State Department stopped short of warning spring breakers not to go to Mexico, but advised them to avoid areas of prostitution and drug-dealing and take other commonsense precautions.

Despite the media displayed cartel violence, kidnappings, extortion, torture, mutilations, and beheadings the number of foreign tourists visiting Mexico surged to 23 million in 2008, up 5.9 percent from the year before, spurred in part by the tumbling, $15-$1, value of the peso against the dollar. The department estimates 80 percent of tourists in Mexico come from the United States.

“There is no major risk for students coming into Mexico in general terms. It is always important to advise the youngsters to behave.”
-Eduardo Medina Mora- Attorney General of Mexico

So, what are my personal thoughts? I think, travelling to an all-inclusive resort would be fine, but for God sake use common sense.

If you want to party, go for it, but stay in your resort, preferably in groups. Stay alert. I understand this might defeat the purpose of springbreak for many, but if you can’t do it, have a designated “watchdog”.

Drinking is legal in Mexico; drugs are not. Mexican beaches are beautiful. Mexican people are beautiful. Mexican jails are not.

Guys, don’t look for fights amongst locals; you may get more than you bargain for. Girls, remember, there is life after springbreak, don’t do something you wouldn’t want the folks back home to know about; not everything that happens in Mexico stays in Mexico.

Spring break can be a stressful time for parents of college students. Not surprisingly, students on spring break outings with friends dramatically increase their alcohol consumption, the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugsreported this fall. Last year, the medical journal Chronobiology International published a study tracking patterns of sexually transmitted disease. Among the trends they found were prominent peaks in March and May. The authors speculated these increases could be associated with the sexual activities of young adults during spring break, which commences as early as late February and concludes as late as mid-April. Ny times-well blogs

Have fun, relax, and enjoy, but be smart, be safe. Don’t think Mexico is magical or miraculous; if you play with fire, even on springbreak, you’ll likely get burned.