School Violence: How to Choose a Safe Campus
Friday, April 18th, 2008With the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre this week, many of us are thinking about safety and security on campus. We hear of increasing incidents of extreme school violence like the shootings at Columbine and Northern Illinois University. But there are also many other instances of crime on campus, including sexual assault and rape, robbery, and vandalism to consider when choosing a college.
In fact, 80% of campus crime is student-on-student while alcohol and/or drug abuse is involved in over 90% of campus crime.
So here are some tips and suggestions to help you choose a college that makes you feel safe. That way you can make sure your college experience is a smash without taking a hit.
- Do your homework: Get crime statistics and timely info on campus crime. By law, colleges are required to disclose this information. So get the info from the colleges that you are interested in to know what you are up against.
- Don’t take the law into your own hands: Check to see if the campus is protected by police officers, security guards or trained student patrol and decide which level of security measures you are most comfortable with.
- Locked up: Look for schools that use electronic key cards instead of regular keys. These are proven to be safer because you can immediately change the lock when keys are lost or stolen, or when residence arrangements change. Also, campuses with electronic surveillance cameras tend to have a lower crime rate.
- Tattle tale: Look for colleges with parent notification policies when suicide, behavioral problems or drugs and alcohol are involved. It might seem as though reporting on someone goes against the code of the schoolyard, but these measures can protect you against other students who have violent tendencies.
- I like mine dry: Dry campuses and dorms (meaning no alcohol allowed in the dorms) is your safest bet, since most campus crime involves the abuse of alcohol and/or drugs.
- Separate rooms: Look for single-sex (i.e. non co-ed) dorms. There tend to be more instances of sexual assault and rape when boys and girls are in such close quarters, especially when alcohol involved.
- Girl power: Consider the college’s advocacy for victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes. If the college has a good support group, it indicates that it takes its protection measures seriously. That means women are usually more informed and supported.
- Watch your back: During your college visit, you might want to survey the campus, academic buildings, residence halls, and other facilities while classes are in session and after dark to see if the buildings and areas are secure, properly-lit, and patrolled. Also, check to see if emergency phones, escorts and shuttle services are available.
These tips aren’t meant to be strict or preachy rules for you to follow blindly. They are meant to arm you with some helpful tools. It’s ultimately up to you to decide what you are comfortable with. College is not just about what you learn in the classroom, it’s about learning how to develop your own independence and responsibility. Learning how to be safe and take care of yourself is doing just that.
