Small-group tour operator G Adventures is leading the charge in educating tourist about how to interact responsibly with children when you travel—and many of the guidelines may surprise the most well-intentioned travelers.  G Adventures recently became the first global travel company to earn the designation ChildSafe Certified from the ChildSafe Movement of Friends-International.  Top tips include:

Photos: Be considerate and don’t take photos with children without their parents or guardian’s permission. Don’t name or geotag children in social media posts, since this can make them susceptible to trafficking and desensitize them to strangers.

Classrooms: Interrupting a lesson is never okay. There are better ways to learn about local life than school classroom visits. If you are not qualified to teach a class in your hometown or wouldn’t walk into a class of children you don’t know to take pictures, don’t do it in another country.

Handouts and Gifts: Small gestures, however well-meaning, can lead to harmful long-term impacts such as the encouragement of begging and dropping out of school. This leads to a cycle of dependency and poverty. Instead, you can donate to local organizations that help youth and their families.

Safety: If you see a child in a situation that just doesn’t seem right, do the right thing and report it immediately to your guides or local authorities. ChildSafe also offers a report line at report@thinkchildsafe.org.

Sebastien Marot, founder and executive director of Friends-International, says the focus on child safety in tourism is long overdue, and that as the travel industry has evolved to become more experiential, with more community-based tourism, there is a growing need for frameworks that will protect children.