<p>mini - I'm sure you're right. We all just learned today that Eve Carson (UNC) may have been kidnapped from her home - via an unlocked door - rather than carjacked as most had assumed. Simply locking a door to the house may have been enough to save her - but someone was going to be harmed that night.</p>
<p>Situational awareness and avoidance of bad situations is the best way to avoid problems. "An ounce of prevention..." and all that.</p>
<p>Self-defense is something to think about. I am a supporter of concealed carry, but whatever you decide to do is up to you. Martial arts, basic hand-to-hand, pepper spray, mace, tazers, and firearms can all work to stop a crime in progress.</p>
<p>I think what Mini is saying is that most of the dangers that occur at college occur from within, like from other students, dates, friends, the student himself. I know in my case that has been the major source of problems. And mace, tazers, pepper spray are not going to protect them from that source.</p>
<p>The problems at a suburban campus are probably a lot different from urban campuses. I watched the campus crime statistics at my son's school which was published by the U police until April and could get an idea of the numbers of property crimes, violent crimes, robberies, assaults, students caught with drugs, etc. One of the big numbers was traffic stops - lots of cars don't stop for students in crosswalks and do turns on red without stopping. I watch the city police logs too and what I'm seeing is higher levels of property crime due to the deteriorating economy. There is more family crime too due to higher levels of stress in the general population but that doesn't directly affect student safety at college.</p>
<p>I was considering doing a research project based on police logs and campus police logs or maybe having one of the kids do this. Many police departments already do crime mapping and analysis but they generally don't publish the data. What I'd like to map are crimes by type based on the location of the crime (if published) and the address of the suspects. I think that this would be a great project for a college website.</p>
<p>One of the big numbers was traffic stops - lots of cars don't stop for students in crosswalks and do turns on red without stopping</p>
<p>I agree that vehicle safety is a huge concern & something that I worry about more in rural or suburban areas, than the city.
In the city, public transportation is more available, but rural areas and even in suburbia there is the sense that it is " peaceful".</p>
<p>At my suburban high school a short ways from the Redmond Microsoft campus, I knew kids who died every year from motor vehicle accidents ( usually where alcohol/drugs were involved somehow), and many more who were severely injured.
Contrast that to my daughters public/private inner city schools where one child died from suicide & one from a brain tumor.
We have big accidents in the city- but you just can't get to the same rate of speed as in less traveled areas.
( Honestly a major reason why we moved to the city when we had kids- I felt there were too many dangers in the suburbs)
My nephew attending a rural university totaled two cars, just falling asleep driving back from events in the city.
Travel's</a> big cause of death: vehicles | Seattle Times Newspaper</p>
<p>Well, some suburban campuses do a very good job at controlling access to the campus by automobiles. Car access to middle-campus at Boston College is severely restricted and students are very safe walking to classes. Most of the parking is on lower campus but traffic speeds are very low as it's hard to drive fast there.</p>
<p>At Boston University, the public transportation is in the middle of a very busy street. The posted speed limit is 30 MPH but defacto is 40. There are usually cars parked on both sides of the street so visibility is not always that good. Students crossing Commonwealth Avenue to get to the subway have to be wary of traffic. I have a friend with a son there and it's a concern of his.</p>
<p>Oh I wasn't thinking actually on campus- my Ds school didn't have any streets running through campus, & the schools around here ( especially UW) have such * huge* speed bumps that you would rip off your exhaust system if you went over 8 MPH. ( so does my school- but I have a Jeep so I laugh at the sports cars trying to inch sideways )
I was thinking just as students go to and from</p>
<p>When I think of the risks I used to take in college, I cringe. I used to wander and "explore" all over New Haven, including at night, including in some very bad neighborhoods, usually accompanied by a friend but sometimes alone. Fortunately, nothing ever happened. I think the fact that I had grown up in New York City, taking the subway by myself from the time I was 11, made me overconfident. Combined with a typical teenage sense of immortality. I stopped after a classmate of mine, Gary Stein -- he was in my residential college -- was shot to death in a robbery not all that far from campus, my junior year I think. I even remember the name of the person who killed him. Ernest Washington. I believe he was only 15 or 16 years old at the time, and already a hardened criminal. Sometimes I wonder if he's still in prison.</p>
<p>I hope my son has more common sense than I did when he starts at Chicago this fall. I've certainly talked to him enough about it.</p>
<p>Just the list of potential dangers, both urban and rural, on campus and off, day and night, is enough to give parents a nervous breakdown. Just as when they were little, I think it behooves us to talk about risk assessment and common sense safety precautions. I have described some scenarios to my S as he leaves for college, asking him how he would behave. I've laid out 3 steps/procedures to follow: 1) Be aware of your surroundings--who is around/what are they doing/are there alleys/doorways where someone could be concealed--both in front and behind you. Do not distract yourself with phone calls/text messages/music. 2) Take basic safety precautions--go with a friend, if possible; make sure someone knows your schedule and update them it plans change; know what to do in an emergency--911, campus call boxes, nearest lit/inhabited area. 3) Look like you know where you're going and what you're doing, even if you don't. Don't look lost--if you are lost, walk purposefully to the nearest store, etc. where there are people. #4 could be added regarding car safety--how to avoid carjackings, staged accidents, isolated police stops. #5 re: property--keep your dorm room locked at all times and make sure your roommate does, too. Do not keep expensive items in plain sight. Have a lock for your computer. If you don't trust your roommate to lock the door, make sure that your valuables are not readily accessible in your room. A lot of campus property crime is opportunistic--it's in plain sight and easy to grab, so someone does. Keep track of serial numbers and etch numbers in items that don't have them.</p>
<p>DonnaL, in contrast the one murder victim I knew at Yale was murdered by her boyfriend. :(</p>
<p>I think I remember that. It was so awful. There were a lot of articles about it, including maybe one in the Sunday New York Times Magazine?</p>