<p>With laptops, wallets, checkbooks, passports, etc at school, is your child using something lockable to keep everything secure? You can't mount things to the floor or on walls, so I don't know how safe anything really would be anyway. </p>
<p>I know at his very small private college, a student mentioned theft is very rare because almost everyone knows each other. I would just hate for things to get stolen.</p>
<p>D. does not lock anything. Big public school. Nothing got stolen so far, there is no quarantee for a future. I am sorry for not making you feel better about it.</p>
<p>Bought a computer lock cable for D--don't think she ever used it. She never had anything stolen from the dorm room, but our neighbor's son moved out of his college dorm because of pilfering.</p>
<p>The best thing to do is to be diligent about keeping the doors closed and locked when you aren't there. (Trust me, college kids are notorious for not doing this simple thing.) Also be diligent not to let in people who don't belong in the dorm. Students aren't the only ones who will take stuff. There was a rash of thievery at D's school--turns out that someone masquerading as a student was let in by others (forgot my swipe card). The thief would walk down the halls and take stuff from rooms that had open doors and nobody inside the room.</p>
<p>Putting wallets, iPods, etc. away in a safe place (ie, not in plain view) would also cut down on the opportunistic thief. Especially when a lot of people may be in your dorm room--think party. Back up iPod music, etc. in case the unthinkable happens. Something lockable (such as a suitcase) could do double duty.</p>
<p>My kids got one of those fire proof boxes with a key to lock up valuables. They really don't have anything of great value at school but it's a good idea. They can keep their credit/debit/soc sec cards, important paperwork, uncashed checks, jewelry, ipod etc in it. They keep it in one of their drawers.</p>
<p>And hide the box. Those boxes are entirely too portable and they just scream "I have something valuable locked inside."</p>
<p>That's what I was thinking. Someone told me that she had this lockbox disguised as a book. If I find such an object, I will post it here. As someone with complex medical needs and lots of meds, despite going to a Quaker school governed by a very strict Honor Code, I will be locking up all rxs.</p>
<p>The dressers at some schools have one drawer with a lock built into it. This is the case at 2 of my kids' schools.</p>
<p>Against his advice, I bought my S both a cable lock and a lockbox. Unpacked the unopened cable lock this spring. Brought home the lock box. He had lost the key sometime during the year (if he ever knew where it was...), and never used the lock box. S #2 pried open the lock box with a pocket knife, so not sure how secure it was anyway. So...I guess whether or not they get used depends on the school and the dorm and the kid. Won't be sending either back in August.</p>
<p>Just make sure your student understands they need to LOCK THEIR DORM ROOM DOOR - at all times. When they go to the shower, when they're sleeping - only leave it unlocked when they're awake and IN the room.</p>
<p>Do college students need something to lock valuables in? Yes. A dorm room. Seriously, if they lock their door, it's going to be pretty safe. For one thing, people looking to steal things are going to go after the rooms that aren't locked (and there will be plenty).</p>
<p>This is a great question! I ran across a series of products called "diversion safes" at efindouttherealtruth dot com; I plan to show them to D and let her pick which one she wants.</p>
<p>We bought S1 a $50 metal file cabinet with locking drawers. He and his roommates use it as extra storage but also stow their laptops and cameras in it. No one will walk out with a big filing cabinet. H built a platform from 2 x 4s to make it level with the desks so they also use it for more workspace.</p>
<p>Of course they need to lock their dorm room - however if they are out and their roommate has company, they have no control over that.
Also - some roomies are not exactly best friends.<br>
Yes - my daughter kept her box in her bottom dresser drawer. Not sure if the roomie knew it was there but one other benefit - she knew where to find important papers and her checkbook.</p>
<p>We purchased insurance for the laptop and registered it with the campus police. We also made labels for boxes that didn't lock that were misleading- so d could have a place to put her ipod/camera away without labeling them as such. my d had a few things taken by one of her random frosh roomies- she tried to treat it as it was an accident during move-out and asked her if she could she meet with her and get her things, but the roomie stood her up and denied it later. The following september, she saw the same girl at her large public uni on campus and lo and behold, she was wearing one of my d's tops. </p>
<p>Lesson: dont take things that are important to you to school. Things that go "missing" can't be reported on insurance unless you file a police report. Don't take anything to a dorm room that can't be replaced. Don't keep that much there either, switch out clothes for seasons and bring stuff home.</p>
<p>How about hiding valuables in something that's disguised as an everyday item, like these: The</a> Container Store > Shop Collections > Banks > Can Safe™
The</a> Container Store > Shop Collections > Banks > Book Safe™</p>
<p>Most campus security offices will engrave your laptop, iPod, etc, for you. Makes them a lot less attractive to thieves.</p>
<p>Son's school provides lockable drawer, you can't count on a roommate to keep the room secure. Son's friend locked up his home key and forgot the combination... I don't know what my son did- but knowing how messy his room was a thief wouldn't have found any valuables...</p>
<p>We bought daughter a sturdy trunk her first year. It doubles as a table, bench, etc. and can be used to lock up her laptop, camera, ipod, other electronics.</p>
<p>My D also did not use her computer cable lock; I don't even know if it came home with her. There was a safe in the dorm room that did not get used. However, there was some thievery in the dorms, and, in fact, an intruder did come into her room while her roommate was there. Very scary. While she didn't notice it at the time, this person apparently did take a canvas tote bag of my D's in the two seconds he was there, before the roommate woke up. Luckily, it was empty at the time, so nothing was lost, but the bag. She did find the bag down the hall a while later. After that, they both were very vigilant about keeping the door locked, even when they just went to the bathroom. The school knew about this intrusion, and the few others that happened around the same time, and they beefed up security. Never heard what happened, but the intrusions did stop. I guess this sort of thing happens. There is something called Lo-jack (like for cars) that you can purchase for your computer. From what I understand, it has like a GPS-like program that you install so that the computer can be located. I also would strongly suggest backing everything up from time to time on a portable Hard Drive. As for the ipods, etc., my D and her friends just put them in a safe place, I hope. Or, keep with her most of the time. Do they really need to have their passports and checkbooks with them on a regular basis? Certainly don't bring other very valuable items. Stuff happens...</p>
<p>We did the locking file cabinet, too. It fit under her desk, in a room with very little storage or floor space. She told me she wouldn't use a lock for her laptop....this was our compromise.</p>