As the college acceptances begin to come in I have recently turned my focus on campus safety. I have been researching the numbers reported by the schools and am a bit concerned. Here is my thought and question:
Thought:
I know that we have been very open and vocal with our D about being aware and her surroundings. She is a very good judge of character. That said, she is still 17 and bound to be put in a situation that she hasn’t experienced yet.
I feel she has lived her life in a bubble, for the most part. As intelligent as she is I worry that the street-smarts may be a bit lacking.
Question:
Do you feel comfortable sending your child to a school that is extremely highly rated, not only as a school but in the field of study, yet their numbers on safety are worse than the other schools your child has been accepted?
Makes me feel that the numbers are only a small portion of what goes on due to lack of students reporting the incidents.
Maybe this is the beginning of me getting freaked that my D is going so far away.
I would like to get your feel on this subject. How do you keep yourself from going crazy?
What sort of numbers on safety are we talking about? What sorts of crime and where are the numbers coming from?
I personally worried more about sexual predators who were also students more than random safety issues, though she considered another school where I’d have worried more about street crime. I talked to her extensively about all of it before she left and i feel like I gave her good advice, but to a degree they have to learn as they go…we just hope it’s not the hard way.
A large proportion of the bad things that happen to college students have some connection with alcohol.
There are colleges where you can leave expensive electronics or unlocked bicycles unattended for hours and they will still be there when you get back. There are other colleges where these things will disappear if you look away for 10 seconds. It helps to know which kind of college you're attending.
If you're a female student visiting a friend in another dorm or off-campus and it gets late, it's nice if a male friend (or two female friends) can walk you back to your dorm. (It takes two if they're women so that the escort doesn't have to return alone.) Late at night on college campuses, there tend to be drunk people around. Drunk guys may hassle a woman walking alone, which is thoroughly unpleasant. They are less likely to hassle a couple or group than a lone woman.
It can be hard to compare safety stats between colleges, b/c different schools have different methods of reporting them. Some may include reports made to the local police, others do not. Some include incidents only if they get to the disciplinary action stage, others may include them.
@OHMomof2 those numbers exactly. Sex offenses. Numbers are coming from the stats from each school’s police departments. They can go by different names. You can search “xyz univ. crime statistics” and something will come up. Lately, I have a lot of time on my hands and have been looking into each of the schools my D applied to and their specific numbers.
More specifically, rapes and fondling. The schools are very specific as to what was reported and where they took place, in the student residence, on or off campus.
If you go on any college tours, they will tell you about safety. There are the “blue light” telephone boxes where you can call for help. Usually there is someone you can call (security) that will walk you home. Search for security and there will be info.
But like @Marian said…talk to her about alcohol and making sure you are with people you can trust.
@wisteria100 Yes. That’s why it makes me wonder how much higher these can be. I know, I know. I will drive myself crazy if I start focusing on this. I know it can happen anywhere. How do you prepare your D without making them paranoid?
I agree. The statistics you may see in an annual security report may differ greatly depending on reporting practices. The biggest difference for sexual assault statistics comes from whether the campus sexual assault center is a confidential resource. On our campus, it is not and we include an additional 8-10 reports each year; because of counting rules, the reports also may be from prior years. Campuses who don’t count those reports (which are often anonymous) may look safer, but they’re not necessarily safer. Schools who house most of their undergrads off campus will have lower numbers because they don’t count anything that takes place off-campus – that’s why many big state schools have low numbers.
Much more importantly when it comes to the sexual assault numbers – advocates will tell you that higher numbers are actually better in terms of safety. These are very under reported crimes and campuses have been working hard to get victims to come forward so that they can at least offer them support and services. A college of any size that is reporting very low numbers of assaults is either excluding a lot or has an atmosphere that discourages reporting.
I would recommend the Report by the White House Task Force on protecting students from sexual assault for information and resources on this issue (I don’t have the link handy, but it pops up easily on a web search).
For other crimes, remember that there could be a whole lot of crime just a block from campus and it wouldn’t count in their totals.
What do YOU do on an ordinary basis to prevent yourself being a victim of crime? Don’t wear valuable jewelry on public transportation. Don’t walk down the street distracted by looking at a cell phone. Teach her those things.
I read The Hunting Ground the summer before D left for college. Oy. At least one of the rapists in that book was a trusted friend of the victim who raped her when she was passed out (on his couch - she was doing the right thing by staying there because it was late!). Another was someone the victim invited over and was sort of dating.
I have told D to go out in a group, to never leave a friend behind or stay behind herself. To keep her drink close and in sight, to not get so drunk she doesn’t know what’s going on. They’ll hear this at school too - the freshman dean signs off almost every weekly email with a reminder to use the buddy system when they go out.
I don’t know how much a college influences the student rape climate on campus. Do the mandatory seminars about consent work? I hope so. Is a rapist going to think twice if he knows he’s likely to get kicked out of school? I don’t know.
That said…knowing your surroundings, being aware is important. It’s not cool to walk with headphones on or eyes glued to phone when walking alone, or expensive phone out for that matter, in many areas. Having strong campus security - cameras, lights, officers, is important to deter some types of crime, in some areas.
@higheredrocks very interesting. I did notice the big state schools having lowered numbers. I am looking forward to looking over the report you recommended. Thank you for your insight. @Pizzagirl The lessons never end. I will have to reiterate safety measures.
“There are colleges where you can leave expensive electronics or unlocked bicycles unattended for hours and they will still be there when you get back.”
At my D’s school, unlocked bikes end up in the trees.
OP, I would educate your D as best you can on how to protect herself. (Buddy system, being aware of surroundings, etc.) My D and I also took a self-defense class.
There will be times when she has to walk alone, unaccompanied, due to lack of companions going in that direction. Consider a small container of mace, available at running stores. Though illegal in places like Massachusetts, I felt it was important to have such a backup.
The only physical threat she had in 4 years was a drunken final club boy on a dance floor. Quick elbows and a loud, firm “Stop it” ended that.
The things I talked with my D about before she left home:
Excessive drinking creates big issues
Keep your wits about you
Try to have a designated sober person - someone to tell you it’s not a good idea to go upstairs or walk home alone
I was very worried about sending my D off as her HS experience was rather sheltered. But, so far so good. She’s done well and her friend group looks out for each other.
I had so many worries as Senior year came to a close… so I completely understand.
Being on a college campus does not provide protection against the ways that young people die- car accidents, firearms, falling off a balcony, drug overdose. The fact that alcohol makes driving, being around a gun, etc much more lethal is a life lesson, not just something to worry about when your kid leaves for college.
We found colleges very candid about where the dangers are and all the ways they try to protect their students. Once the kids got to college, it varied tremendously how seriously the kids tried to cooperate. The most sophisticated alarm system in the world, backed up by an armed guard sitting at the front door, with video monitors in the laundry rooms, can’t protect a group of kids who leave a backdoor open with a brick so their friends don’t have to sign in when the come to visit.
The best thing a woman can do to live safely in college is not to get drunk. Seriously. Many date rape, fondling, assault and other crimes to the body happen when the woman or both parties are drunk. While no one deserves to be assaulted, regardless of mental state, the fact is that a woman is less likely to be harmed if she is sober.
We talk up and down about campus safety and accountability, issues that certainly need to be addressed, but we often ignore the elephant in the room, which is that impaired people make bad decisions and cannot easily defend themselves. So rather than looking at safety stats, I’d be telling my daughter: Don’t let your drink out of your sight. Stop at two.
Realistic? Maybe not on some campuses, but it’s the best way to avoid being a victim on any campus.
Thank you all for the advice. I’ve been focused so much on the college admission process that I feel I’m a little behind on the social freedom preparation. Though I feel my D has a good head on her shoulders anyone can do something stupid at any time.
