Campus / Student Safety
Campus Safety Concerns for College Students:
Crime Prevention Tactics & Self Defense at School
Students and educators need to protect themselves from on campus dangers...
Whether they’re out walking to night class, entering a badly lit parking lot or garage, or working late in a campus building. Tips for staying safe on campus include staying aware, not losing control by getting drunk, taking self defense courses, using campus protection services and carrying some form of self-defense, such as pepper spray. While other self defense items may require some training and special techniques, pepper spray completely incapacitates a would-be attacker. A spray in the face renders the recipient unable to see for at least 15 minutes, giving you time to escape and get help.
Campus Safety Statistics
Parents send their children off to college believing that campus security and dorm safety rules will protect them, but they’re vastly overrating the protection most schools provide. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), between 20 and 25% of women on campus are sexually assaulted sometime during their educational career; another 13% are stalked.
Drinking increases campus crime...
Freshman girls are especially at risk, as they aren’t informed of the dangers on campus, and may attend parties where drinking and drugs comprise a strategy that often ends in rape. Date rape is frighteningly common: in fact, 90% of campus rape victims know the rapist; 80% physically resist the rapist, but are overcome. Worst of all, of the women raped at college, 42% expect to be raped again.
Underreported School Dangers
Crime statistics in higher education are underreported: schools don’t want the larger community to know, so parents and students are unprepared for the violent crime that’s all too common on campus. Women and men are mugged, beaten and robbed on university campuses. In the case of rape, crime goes largely unreported: some 65% of campus rapes are not reported to campus security.
Protection & Prevention of Student Assult and University Crimes
Prevention isn’t always possible; 71% of rapes are planned in advance. But you can decrease your chances of being attacked by staying sober (75% of victims and rapists are drinking when rape occurs). Trust your instincts: most victims know their attackers. Stay tuned in to your feelings. If a date feels weird, or you’re being maneuvered into an isolated place, keep one hand on your pepper spray. If things get out of hand, don’t be afraid to use your pepper spray to protect yourself and stop your assailant.
Pepper spray is easily carried in a purse, pocket or backpack: if you’re out alone or walking in any spot that may be unsafe, make it a habit to hold the spray in your hand. If you need it, you shouldn’t be fumbling for it!
8 products