College Crunch

With the recent rash of violence on college campuses, especially the murder of Annie Le at the Yale Research Lab. I thought it imperative to start a quick, yet very important series on How To Remain Safe on College Campuses.

Here at the University of Montana there are very few College Police Officers, and not a lot of good lighting to protect students from possible acts of random violence, or premeditated violence. It is a large campus with poor lighting, and not a lot of foot traffic at night. Danger could be lurking around any corner. So you have to plan to be safe, not rely on luck and chance.

Planned Prevention is the best, and the only way to remain truly safe. As college students we have to take full responsibility for our own safety. We can not rely upon the systems that are in place to protect us.

There are some great things we as students can do to protect ourselves. Namely take advantage of the tools that are right here available to us.

Use Twitter To Stay In Touch

If you are going out at night, let people know where you are going, who you are going with, and when you plan to return. Use Twitter to update where you are at, when you are leaving, and if you are leaving with someone.

Carry A Safety Device

If you are walking on campus late at night, I would carry mace, or another safety device like a stun gun. If a would be attacker does attempt to attack fighting back normally will send an attacker running away. Personally I recommend a Personal Alarm it is unbearably loud for an attacker and gets peoples attention very quickly.

In Conclusion

The best method of prevention is to stay alert, communicate with friends, and family members regularly; use online and SMS tools to keep people notified and create a personal record of your whereabouts. Keep that private only share that Twitter account with family, or a room-mate. Carry a protection device, and don’t become complacent to your normal safety procedures.  Remember while college is about learning, we all need to have fun. But be safe in the process.