<p>Before I start this post, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers on this forum! =)</p>
<p>I saw this posted on the College Life section, but that thread was receiving, half-tailed (for a lack of a better word) answers. So, I'm asking the knowledgeable parents of the CC community about this.</p>
<p>My parents are extremely concerned with how safe my stuff will be when I go away to college, as am I. I honestly feel sorry for the poor soul who dares to touch my belongings. I plan to buy a safe, but I'm not sure of which safe I should get. My mother herself has a fire proof one. It looks small, but from experience carrying that thing, it weighs more than an average four year old child. Yeesh. I don't even want to know how much extra will it weigh after I put necessary things inside of it.</p>
<p>*For extra security, I hope to bring a cable lock for my laptop. </p>
<p>I already know not to bring <em>extremely</em> valuable items, such as expensive jewelry, etc. My parents have already started to discuss with me not keep too much cash on me. Considering we live in a highly populated city, you'd think they know I would realize how to keep my stuff protected, but I don't blame them. New place to live in with new people... I'm already keeping my guard up.</p>
<p>But now I'm hearing about how a safe is more "susceptible" to being stolen. -_- So do any of the parents have any extra tips on how to keep stuff and what safes to buy?</p>
<p>Rosary - I know you intended your question as a practical matter, not intended as an affront to anyone. But the suggestion that you NEED a safe at college to protect valuables from your fellow students … well it gives the appearance of elitism. My advice is to leave all that expensive cr*p home, and save yourself a lot of anguish (and social ostracism).</p>
<p>The cable lock for your laptop isn’t a bad idea. A better one is to subscribe to one of those services that backs up your files daily. Hard disk failures are one of those unfortunate facts of life.</p>
<p>Many schools will have optional sessions with campus police during orientation week, and they should have some guidelines for keeping students (and their stuff, including laptops) safe.</p>
<p>Agree, don’t take expensive stuff to college. One thing you and your roommate should discuss and make sure you do is to lock your room EVERY time you leave it (even to go to the bathroom or take a shower or just duck down the hall for a minute). That is the best thing you can do to protect your belongings in your room.</p>
<p>If there is any way to lock up your backpack when in the cafeteria, take advantage of that (as your laptop likely will be in it). I assume any phone or iTouch sort of devices would be in your purse and with you most of the time anyway.</p>
<p>The only other item D took of any value was some checks, which she did not carry around in her purse. She kept them in a desk drawer under other papers in a big envelope with other key paperwork (eg, insurance information).</p>
<p>I agree with NewHope33 that a safe is kind of an oddball thing to bring, and will attract attention & gossip (make people wonder if you have more valuable stuff than you really do).</p>
<p>Thank you for the honest response. I asked a few people from the school I will be attending and they recommended that I get a safe since the school itself isn’t gated from the surrounding community, and there are reports of people stealing, as on any college campus. I completely understand the elitist attitude that might occur- I was even questioning how locking up my stuff may make my future roommate(s) feel offended- but in the end I assume that she will want to keep her stuff guarded not just because we don’t know each other, but from the others in the building who like our stuff as well.</p>
<p>@frazzled2thecore:</p>
<p>I should definitely ask the orientation coordinators this week if the school will have those sessions. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you want a lightweight safe, you should take a look at the back-packing and student travel websites. I remember reading years ago about methods that people back-packing around the world recommended for keeping things secure in student hostels. Start here: [The</a> Lost Girls - Lost Girls World](<a href=“http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/]The”>http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/)</p>
<p>For items that you rarely need, a safe-deposit box at a local bank or credit union might do.</p>
<p>D1 grew up with the person she ended up rooming with. It was a suite-style room. Her roommate’s parents insisted on her brings a safe. It was heavy, impractical, and she never used it. And she certainly never took the time to lock and unlock the laptop every time she left the room. A simple laptop lock will do. And a small lock box seems more practical. D1’s desk had a top drawer that could be locked with a padlock if you wanted. Even that did not get used much. Hide your valuables and cash deep in a drawer and stuff. Don’t leave stuff out on the top of your dresser.</p>
<p>I don’t think having a safe is that odd ball or it least it should not be. I think dorms should come with them as most better hotel rooms do today. Many kids have a nice watch and other items that can quickly go over $10K in value. Not to mention credit cards, passport and other stuff that is hard to replace. Actually I thought of making a business of installing rentable safes in college dorms. Nice just not to worry about stuff when you are out–and no, you cannot trust everyone–even roommates.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. About locking the room, I hope to definitely ask her about doing that, thank you. =) I even tried to ask a student on my visit to the school if I could make extra keys just for back ups, but the key is fitted with a special code that can’t be duplicated. Good Looking out from the college.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link! There was a book I wished to buy called Miss University written by an alumnae of my high school and her friend. I’ll ask if they have a feature on safe keeping items.</p>
<p>@sunnyflorida:</p>
<p>Your daughter’s lucky. I’m arriving to this school not knowing a soul from high school, so I can’t help but have my guard up. I saw that a few people on the other thread also mention desk drawers that locked. Another thing I should ask the coordinators at the college. Thank you!</p>
<p>@barrons:</p>
<p>Safes in college dorms would be the most practical thing to have rather than buying $300+ insurance to keep stuff safe. One of the property insurance offers I saw even promoted emergency tracking on the children themselves. Wow…</p>
<p>I dunno. If a safe is small and portable enough to be schlepping it around to and from college, it seems to me that it won’t offer much protection. A thief could just walk off with the entire safe and break it open later at his leisure. Plus having a safe in the first place sends a big “Steal Me! Valuables Inside!” signal.</p>
<p>Leave your jewelry at home and your cash in the bank.</p>
<p>I have one of my kids on Lojack for Mac programs (since they loose things more easily). My other got a weird BBB cord thingy which didn’t work, but now wants the Lojack too since there have been increasing computer thefts.</p>
<p>For iphones, there’s itunes gps downloadable finder service, which at least allows you to swipe your data in a hurry. Never know whose snatch and grabbing. </p>
<p>For ipads you can activate the gps if you pre-install it. It works.</p>
<p>And yea, I bought my daughter a small (5 by 5 inch) fireproof safe with simple key for some valuables which she hid and used through the year.</p>
<p>Room keys remain the best means of prevention of room theft, but in college libraries, it’s best to have a buddy watch system for brief excursions or take it with you. Yep, nothing wrong with being safe about valuables given all we parents pay on tuition!</p>
<p>Even if you bring a safe (which I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t use after about a month) consider the dorm insurance. Our daughter spilled a large coffee on her laptop, had a room-mate accidentally step on her glasses ( that she had set on the floor while reading ) and had a phone stollen from her coat pocket at a restaurant. All were replaced with just a small deductible.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what school you are going to be attending that you are so worried. One of my kids went to school in a large urban area. The dorms had receptionists at the dorm. No getting in (even for parents) without a picture ID. Every time, go to the car, come back and you need the ID again. Most students go to college not knowing anyone and most are not so worried about their things getting stolen. After all, most college students have their own laptop, cel phone, etc. and aren’t going to steal yours.<br>
The biggest theft problems on the urban campuses are things like students leaving a laptop unattended and going to the restroom at the library or leaving a wallet on a bench as they change at the gym. My son had a nice watch, iphone, laptop, passport and no issues with theft in four years at a very urban campus.</p>
<p>It’s not the school I’m worried about, it’s just me and my protectiveness for my stuff. The school itself is really safe and the surrounding area also. The group of students I spoke to on my visit are also from the city (New York City) as me, and here (like in any city), you have to be careful of your stuff.</p>
<p>My school is in a suburban area with the town/city area within walking distance. </p>
<p>Not to sound rude (and I hope it doesn’t across that way! :)), but maybe the college students you know aren’t that worrisome about valuables (from my point of view). However, I’m just keeping my guard up just in case someone wants what I have. </p>
<p>I have a thing about myself that whenever I am by myself somewhere I take the most precautions I can to ensure my safety. Years of being lectured by parents kind of does that to a person sometimes, haha.</p>
<p>@Giveherwingsmom:</p>
<p>I’ll bring up the Lojack software to my parents, thank you!</p>
<p>@dragonmom:</p>
<p>I think you just gave me new consideration for the dorm insurance plan.</p>
<p>One question you might ask about your dorm is whether there is some kind of buzzer/alarm that goes off if a dorm door to the outside is propped open for more than a couple of minutes. This is a personal safety as well as property safety feature that more colleges are adding. When this is set up, campus security is automatically notified that the door is open after a couple of minutes. If your dorm doesn’t have it, it is something to consider lobbying/petitioning for as a campus safety addition once you are on campus. Propped doors are one way that unauthorized people get into dorms.</p>
<p>Really? I’ll consider asking, but wouldn’t a feature like that cause too many “cry wolf” alarms? Like for example on move in day when people are holding the door open for one another to go through with heavy room items.</p>
<p>@Rosary They obviously disable it for move-in day and such, but I know several schools that have those buzzers. </p>
<p>The only security measure I took was buying Lojack for my laptop, and always locking my door when I left. I know you can register certain items with our campus PD (give serial numbers, characteristics, etc.) and so if they get stolen and show up police can trace the item.</p>
<p>My thought would be that S could use that to keep a few small items safe, including his passport and emergency credit card. That could go inside a drawer so as not to draw too much attention. S doesn’t wear any jewelry, but someone who did could store a few small things in there as well. </p>
<p>I don’t think S will use a laptop lock or tether. I figure the laptop will be with him most of the time, or locked in his room. As long as he and his roommate are good about locking the door, I figure that should be sufficient. </p>
<p>I will also probably be getting him dorm content insurance, which is pretty cheap from places like this, and in addition to theft also covers dropping your laptop, spilling coffee in it, etc. [CSI</a> College Student Insurance - Instant Quote](<a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/]CSI”>http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/)</p>