<p>I was so afraid something awful would happen to my physically beautiful daughter when she went off to college that it became a family joke the number of times I went over the rules of parties and how to keep yourself safe. </p>
<p>I had this long laundry list of instructions starting with never take a drink from someone else unless you made it yourself, hold your own “red cup” at the keg, never do shots. Never leave your friend at the party. Never go upstairs at a frat house. blah, blah, blah.</p>
<p>My kids would chime in in unison when I got started on it. (and I got started on it long before the summer before college). By the time my oldest left for college, ALL of her friends, including the boys, could recite the list with me. They rolled their eyes, but, interestingly, never walked away or stopped me.</p>
<p>Paranoid Mrs. P.</p>
<p>But, something really, really awful happened to my best friend in college, and it happened cuz she was naive and trusting and beautiful, and it ruined her life for many years. </p>
<p>“Bear with me,” I used to say. “It makes ME feel better to say it.”</p>
<p>I’m not saying bad things will not happen or cannot happen, but there are things a young woman can do to stay safer.</p>