I may earn a commission when you buy through links on the site at no extra cost to you. By using the links, you are helping support College EDC, and I genuinely appreciate your support.
10 Tips for Staying Safe on Campus
Millions of college students leave home and head off to their campuses each year to enjoy the fun and exciting college experience. Going off to college also means they’ll face a lot of responsibility and freedom, which can warrant unforeseen risks and dangers that could potentially harm them or the people around them.
Despite colleges and universities working hard to secure their campuses and making them as safe as possible, crimes on campuses still do occur. That’s why it’s extremely important student know how to stay safe in risky situations and learn what they can do to prevent any dangerous situations from occurring while on campus.
If you’re in college, use this blog post to learn 10 tips for staying on campus. Additionally, you’ll learn the possible dangers you might encounter on campus and what you can do to avoid them.
1. Be Cautious Walking at Night
If you’re walking back to your dorm or to your car at night, you should always be aware of your surroundings and look over your shoulder once in awhile.
Personally, I wasn’t in many situations where I had to walk around my college at night since I didn’t live on campus or have any night classes, but if I’m ever walking at night somewhere, I’m always a little paranoid, even if I’m in a good area.
I suggest having someone to walk with you or even have a group of people to walk with in really any situation that’s at night, such as going back to your dorm after a party, walking to your car to get food, night classes, etc.
It’s easy to forget how risky it can be to walk around your campus alone at night until you fall victim to a predator. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so if you’re walking around at night, try to have someone with you to deter any predators and always be aware of your surroundings.
2. Carry Self-Defense Items
Carrying self-defense items is one of the best precautions you can take to stay safe during your time in college. There’s many items available online that are excellent for self-defense, such as pepper sprays, tasers, personal alarms, and even some flashlights that have built-in tasers or alarms.
Carrying any one of those items will be much better than having nothing to protect yourself if you’re in a risky situation. Having them on you at all times either on your keys, in your pocket, or in your backpack is also very important because obviously they’re useless if you forget them in your dorm room.
3. Keep Your Phone on You
It’s important to keep your phone on you and have it fully charged in case you need make any emergency calls or need to get in contact with campus security. Also, a lot of colleges allow students to sign up for text/call alerts if there is ever any safety concerns that students need to made aware of.
If you’re ever involved in a sketchy situation, it’s always good to have your phone near by so you can call or text a friend, family member or campus official.
4. Have a DD
The absolute last thing you want to do is drive under the influence after you leave a college party. I highly recommend you either have someone at the party, who hasn’t been drinking, drive you back to your dorm or call someone who can pick you up.
This goes back to always having your phone on you because if no one at the party, or wherever you’re drinking at, can’t give you a ride, you can call someone who can.
Now, if there’s no one who can give you a ride, you still have a few other options available. You can call a taxi, Uber, Lyft, or any other transportation service. Of course you’ll have to pay to use those services, but if you’re too intoxicated to even put your card information into an Uber app, then I suggest you just find somewhere safe to sleep for the night.
If you’re drinking at a place near your dorm and plan on walking back, you should definitely have someone walk with you, especially if it’s at night. Regardless of if your college is in the city or in the middle of no where, you don’t want to be walking around in the middle of the night while you’re intoxicated and all alone. You’re just asking for a predator to sneak up on you at that point.
5. Learn the Layout of Your Campus
Knowing how to navigate your campus properly can become very beneficial in many situations. Let’s say you’re a freshman at a big university and you’re walking back to your dorm at night, but you end up getting lost. You’ll probably start freaking out and plus you’ll be putting yourself at risk of becoming a victim to an assailant.
To prevent any of that from happening, you can start to learn the layout of your campus and figure out where you’ll be spending the most time at. You can do this through campus maps and also asking around to other students and campus officials about where certain things are located, such as the campus security office.
6. Make Friends You Can Trust
Probably one of the best ways you can stay safe at college is to have people around you that you know you can trust. Going off to college for the first time is daunting, but every student at your college experiences those same daunting feelings at some point.
Instead of sticking to yourself, try to make friends with people in your classes and with your roommates because if you’re ever in need of help, you’ll have a friend who can be there for you.
There’s only so much you can do by yourself when it comes to your safety and well-being at college. You need friends you know you can trust that will look out for you in any situation, such as walking with you at night, helping you out if you drink too much at a party, or if someone ever tries to hurt you in any way.
7. Be Aware of Crime Rates
There are thousands of college related crimes that are reported in the United States each year, not to mention all the crimes that go unreported. Crime rates at your college are going to vary depending on the size of your campus and the geographical location. Regardless, it’s smart to educate yourself on any crimes that occur on your college campus and in the surrounding area.
The most common crimes that occur at colleges and universities in the U.S. are burglaries, sexual harassment, and motor vehicle theft. If you become aware of these crimes and how often they occur, you’ll be able to take preventive measures so you’re less likely to fall victim to them.
8. Learn About Campus Resources
Many colleges offer a number of services for student safety, such as campus security and campus police that patrol the campus, transportation and escort services, and emergency call boxes. You can also talk to counselors if there is ever something bothering you personally and it’s hurting your mental health or maybe you’re worried about a friend or roommate.
Ask around to campus officials and college advisors about any safety courses that are available for students to participate in. Make sure you’re signed up for college emails and are receiving text/call alerts about any important information going on at your college.
9. Always Lock Your Doors
Keeping your doors locked is pretty much common sense, but it can be easy to forget with a hectic college lifestyle. Since the most common crimes on campuses are burglary and motor vehicle theft, it’s important you have your car doors locked, windows rolled up, and don’t have any valuables laying out in plain sight.
Also, you always want to keep the door to your dorm or apartment locked at all times to prevent anyone from breaking in and stealing from you or your roommates. Another safety measure you can even take is to purchase a safe or lockbox to keep any valuables in.
10. Call for Help
Last but not least, always call for help if you’re involved in or see something that could potentially risk the safety of you or the others around you. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so if you ever see something suspicious, don’t be afraid to call for help as soon as possible.
If you see any act of violence then just yell for help right away to alert anyone in the area. Also, if you’re aware of any threats made towards you or someone else, you need to contact the authorities or a campus official right away.
