<p>Your kids are smart. Despite the fact that these schools seem like gardens in a bubble, they are open to the outside world. The practice of kids propping open dorm doors and letting people in not good.</p>
<p>Swarthmore had a run of incidents where an intruder was popping up in dorms and surprising the hell out of female students. It had happened twice, a description of the guy was printed in the paper. So, a female student returns to her room in the middle of the day and finds this guy in her room. She screams; he runs.</p>
<p>It turns out students had seen this guy in another dorm an hour earlier and not reported him to security (whose building was 100 yards away). Then, a group of students going into the next dorm across campus HELD THE DOOR OPEN FOR THE GUY TO WALK IN.</p>
<p>So, here was the perfect opportunity to catch this creep if only one student had used their cell phone to call security and it didn’t happen because everyone is so trusting, even of an older man matching the description of a creep that has been reported on campus!</p>
<p>All it takes is one former employee or some creep familiar with the campus to burst that seemingly invincible bubble. All it takes to stop someone like that is leaving doors locked and practicing a little situational awareness. Why is there a 35 year old man walking in the door of my dorm? Call security. If the guy is supposed to be there, they’ll straighten it out. That’s what security is there for!</p>
<p>I’m also a Grinnell alum and I agree with sabaray - Grinnell is a very safe, very trusting campus. However, on recent visits I have walked past that enormous pile of backpacks outside the dining hall and put my bag in a cubby in the coatroom covered by my coat I really think it’s a matter of personel preference and comfort level.</p>
<p>So true - my d is at the same school and has had her (fake from China) Burberry scarf and her power cord to her computer stolen at the library. She also had a strange guy walk into her dorm room and throw up on her carpet in the middle of the night - now she locks her door! And those are only the things I know about…</p>
<p>I’m not worried about safety at either place (or at any place we’re looking at, quite frankly). It’s more – my kids really were bothered by this. It was sort of a naivete thing – oh, we’ll all just leave our stuff here, no one will touch it. That may be, but it’s not good preparation for the real world, IMO. One of the Grinnell tour guides talked about how she left her bike unlocked and every now and then found it across campus and someone else had ridden it and ha ha isn’t that cute. I don’t really think it’s cute at all, to be honest, and neither did my kids. I think it’s silly not to lock up a bike when it takes no effort. Not that a stolen bike is the end of the world, and even with bike locks bikes get stolen (H’s was stolen when we were at NU, and it was locked up), but what’s the point of making it easy? While at Haverford, the guide mentioned that he didn’t have to worry when he accidentally left his laptop in the library overnight. That’s great – but there’s a part of me that says that I <em>want</em> my kids to worry about that stuff, because it keeps them sharp, on the ball and aware of their surroundings. I don’t know, my kids take the train to downtown Chicago for various activities and I certainly don’t teach them to be lackadaisical about their personal possessions or personal space while on public transport – that’s just stupid and naive, so why would I want them to be that way on a campus, even if it is bucolic and/or in a well-to-do low-crime area?</p>
<p>From your initial description of your S and D’s reaction, it appears that they are on the same page with NOT being lackadaisical. And, that may explain their reaction. If they go to a school with the lackadaisical attitude, then the probability that their roommate is going to be open-door and lax greatly increases. Same for the general attitude toward all security issues–like strangers in and around the dorms, etc.</p>
I really think it’s a matter of personel preference and comfort level.</p>