Question for the experienced college parents…
Do you let your kids take valuables with them to college, when they live in the dorm? For example, a nice pair of earrings, or some expensive sneakers. Many will at least have a computer. How do they secure their valuables in the dorm? Wouldn’t a safe be easy to pick up and carry out?
I have boys and they didn’t/don’t wear earrings so that sort of loss hasn’t been a concern.
They did have newer laptops and either expensive camping gear or climbing gear. But they also each shared a dorm room with one other person and their shared room had a door to the hall that locked. They didn’t get anything stolen. I know they propped open their doors a lot.
I wouldn’t buy a safe. Not everyone in the dorms is a thief.
Seems like the main concern about theft tends to be drugs that can be targeted for recreational use (e.g. ADHD drugs, opioids).
in addition to the locked door, my dd’s dorm room as two locking drawers. One is in her nightstand (small drawer) and the other is in the bottom of the dresser (larger / shoes, etc will fit) You bring your own lock so no concern about someone else having the key. My only worry is if she will actually use it! (the only expensive thing she will take is her laptop)
ETA - I probably would not let my child bring expensive jewelry to campus. I would be concerned that it would likely be borrowed and lost rather than stolen.
Mine had a small underbed safe he took with him his freshman year. It came home at Christmas and hasn’t gone back. He said he doesn’t know of anyone that has had anything stolen inside a dorm or frat house (except out of the fridge!). He did have his bicycle stolen from the dorm. I don’t think he locked it. He didn’t even notice it was missing for a couple of weeks. Boys!
D didn’t take any special precautions. Dorm doors lock. She had a computer, nice camera, a violin and a viola. We did get insurance to cover the items being damaged or stolen. It was pretty inexpensive.
I have heard of people taking a suitcase with a combination, storing it under the student’s bed and securing it to the bed frame with a cable/bicycle lock. My sons never had anything of value in the dorms with the exception of their laptops.
We got a dorm safe for DD. Someone would need to dismantle the bed to get the safe out. That said, she did not take a lot of valuables other than her computer.
Looking the room is the single best deterrent. Even when going to the bathroom. Most crimes at my DD’s schools are those of convenience so common sense is key.
As an aside, our homeowners insurance policy covers theft for D if she’s living in campus housing.
A laptop is a requirement for a college student. There’s no getting around it. If you can’t afford to replace a pair of sneakers, you spend too much on sneakers.
Son’s room had a lockable drawer. I highly recommend not taking valuables that are not being used regularly. This means the expensive jewelry and shoes not used on a near daily basis. Do not rely on the locked room door- roommates and the student may leave it unlocked, even if “just for a moment”. Also- even if 99% of the people around are trustworthy there can always be that one person who steals, even with a trusted person present.
I’m sure you and your child will get information from the dorm regarding lockable drawers and the like. You also need to remind your kid that leaving things in the library, café, other public places unattended for that short bathroom trip is not good.
The only thing our daughter has had taken is sweaters (right out of the dryer…). She was working at a place where she got cash tips last semester and wasn’t able to deposit the cash due to not being near a branch of her bank, so we ordered her a “fake book safe”. She stored LOTS of cash in there. No problem with laptop as it is almost always with her.
taking valuables to college seems at least somewhat unavoidable, what with $2,500+ macbook pros and $1,000 dumb phones. At son’s school, everyone propped their dorm room doors open with hangers, and some even duct taped over the latches, so “security” was non-existent. For a little piece of mind, we went with personal property insurance from https://www.haylor.com/college-students/ Lots of other sources of insurance, and some of your student’s personal property may be covered under your off premises theft coverage on your homeowner’s policy.
Get the laptop insured (sometimes your homeowners policy already does). Squaretrade is ok. Make sure the kid backs up their work on usb or the cloud or both.
Biggest and most important thing…LOCK YOU DORM DOOR…yep in caps because so many kids think it’s OK to just go to the bathroom or down the hall without doing so.
Things won’t get stolen from your room while you aren’t there…if the door is locked.
Leave anything really valuable at home…don’t bring expensive or heirloom jewelry to college.
I see in college crime logs more instances of kids leaving their phone/computer unattended in a library/study area and it getting stolen. They usually just leave them “for a minute” to get a drink, go to the bathroom, etc. Also, a lot of bikes being stolen from bike racks (even if properly secured).
If your kid insists on taking any truly valuable jewelry to school, I would consider a small safety deposit box. You can get one for about $20-$30 a year at a bank where you are a member and the risk of theft is close to zero. I don’t know how kids get their phones stolen these days, when they carry them constantly. Apparently, some of gen Z will check their phones when in the shower and during sex.
Kids have a lot of things that cost a lot to replace - bike, passport, SS card (if they are going to work while on campus), phone, i-watch, kindle, etc. Most of those things my kids kept with them almost all the time. Good locks for other things. One lived in a sorority house and although her room locked, I know she never, ever, locked her room. The other lived in a suite and the outside door locked and couldn’t be propped open or some alarm rang. I don’t think the kids locked their individual rooms, but they were all friends and it is unlikely something could be stolen and used as they were together ALL the time (teammates and roommates).
I think a dorm safe is a good idea for paperwork or small electronics they may not use all the time. Other stuff, like electronics, they just have to keep an eye on. I don’t think laptop locks get used very often.
Tell your student not to keep their SS card or passport on them. Leave them back in the room where they are actually safer. Kids get their backpacks, wallets, purses stolen all the time (on and off campus) and these two items are hard to replace and will be useful to prove identity if/when they have to replace a lost license or school ID card.
Our kids both attended their Us and only had things stolen when they were left unattended. For S, it was a phone and wallet left on gym bleachers when we went to the bathroom. For D, she left her phone in a classroom and it disappeared.
Their laptops have never been stolen or lost. I paid for them with my Costco CCard so when they broke within the extended warranty period, We got full refunds on both laptops.
Some folks have bought insurance for their college kids losses/thefts but we never did. S was able to take 2 broken phones and make one that worked for him. D was able to use one if our old phones until we again qualified for free new phones from our carrier. They haven’t lost SS cards nor passports nor DLicenses.
They did not keep the SS card and passport with them but kept it in desk or dresser where they lived.
Back in the Stone Age, my roommate and I seldom locked our dorm room door. Someone actually stole ALL of our textbooks…every single one. They probably sold them back to the book store for cash. We had to scrounge for books for the rest of the term. Neither of us wanted to buy another set of books.
Lesson learned…lock the door always when you aren’t there.