It is important for students to always feel safe on their campuses. You spend four or more years living in dorms or close to campus, traveling to and from classes, and walking around nearby neighborhoods at night. Unfortunately, no campus is completely devoid of crime and other hazards. Rampant rape allegations have colleges scrambling for answers and solutions, and horrific events like Virginia Tech make college students question their safety.
So what can be done to improve campus safety as a college student? Here are some methods:
- Lobby for a mass notification system. Nearly all college campuses have some sort of text-based notification system to alert students to bad weather conditions or crime emergencies. If your campus does not have one, it would be easy to suggest an inexpensive solution.
- Identify high-crime areas. Expressly large campuses, like major state institutions, have sprawling fields and dark streets throughout campus. These are the places most likely to experience crime. Students can request light posts or alert systems installed. Even campuses strapped for funding can increase campus police patrols to targeted areas.
- Campus watch programs. Functioning similar to neighborhood watch programs, campus watch is a method for students to watch each other’s backs. Heavily-populated areas like freshman dorms or off-campus housing is a prime area for cultivating watch programs.
- Encourage other students to install helpful apps. Many anti-theft and anti-rape apps exist for free download for smartphones. These apps may range from emergency calls sent at the click of a button to turning the camera flash into a bright spotlight.
- Create a self-defense class. A cheap but effective way to improve student awareness and provide basic self-defense techniques is to bring in a local instructor to teach classes. Many martial arts instructors agree to do classes cheaply, because they often bring in new students to their academy. Some campuses even merge self-defense classes with school counseling programs to help those struggling with a history of sexual violence.
- Ensure crime reports are being filed. The Clearly Act was passed in 1986 in response to a terrible campus crime. Now all campuses are required to report crimes on the premises. Some colleges try to publish the data in obscure places. All it takes is one student lobbying to make the information more visible.
- Start an escort program. College students enjoy their leisure time, but people walking home from bars or late night classes are at greater risk of being a crime victim. Escort programs utilize trustworthy students who volunteer to walk people home during off hours.
- Always lock your doors. Whether it is your car or dorm room, you should never completely trust those who live around you. Personal property theft is big, even on small campuses.
Awareness is a major part of fighting campus crime. Students make great activists, but they will not respond unless they know what is happening around them. Providing the facts of what is happening on campus easily creates a strong response. Students know that taking action is in their best interests, and many will respond with passion knowing their peers are in chronic danger.
If you were recently subjected to a crime on campus, call Sweeney Merrigan Law. We specialize in personal injury cases and can help you mount a claim if you feel the college was negligent in your personal safety. Many students subjected to crime try to turn to their campus administrations for help, only to find a lackluster response or outright indifference to their problems. Do not let that happen to you; turn to someone who can help.
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