Personal Safety for College Students

Since I care about the people surrounding me, I believe that personal safety is one of the most important aspects of life. Safety belongs to every day living; someone never knows how or when an attack may occur.

In my life I have heard about a lot of things like attacks, and murders. Most people were lucky and had light injuries; however, there is always a chance of being killed. The murder of a former classmate, Allison, and still haunts me today. She disappeared and was found months later, chopped up into pieces and hidden in a shack.

At the age of 17, I was attacked by a man in my apartment. I could tell what he wanted to do to me just by looking into his eyes. I fought as hard as I could, using every ounce of strength that I had in me. After a while, he gave up without reaching his goal and fled.

That incident has taught me to look at things in a positive way and learn from them. After all, I was not badly harmed or killed. I need to always take precaution. A strong will can give the needed strength or coordination for a good defense.

Over the years, I have established a few rules in life:

1. Use caution in trusting anyone.

2. Take Tai Kwan do lessons.

3. Avoid giving directions.

4. I only get rides from people I know.

5. Make sure there's enough gas in my car.

6. If I ever end up in a situation in a car, I will tear off a button or find some small object to put it into the ignition. This way, this way the car can't be started by anyone.

I interviewed a few students around campus. Aaron Watson said, "I tried to avoid dangerous situations and the bad parts of town. A few years ago I was into martial arts."

Mary Cooper said, "I lived in Chicago until I was nine, and even in those short years, safety was instilled in me by my parents at an early age. We lived in a wonderful neighborhood; however, precaution was always present. Now whether I'm at Drake or shopping, I always assess my surroundings to make sure I feel comfortable. I always hold my purse in a secure grasp and I never set things down and leave them unattended. While in Chicago, My mom had a broach on her coat and while she had her hair done, it was stolen. Truthfully, I have never experienced a bad side of Des Moines; I feel safe wherever I go. Considering that when city workers in Chicago need to fix the road in a rough part of the city, they require a police escort or they will be shot at."

Theresa Romano also shared some safety tips. "I watch my surroundings in the parking lot or garage. I lock my car doors when parked and depending on the area I may drive with the doors locked. I keep my billfold in a zipper compartment of my purse. I usually don't carry large amounts of cash.

Deborah Hills stated, "I park under a light in the parking lot and try to walk out with someone after a class ends at 10:00P.M. I also carry pepper spray." If you have to be out at night and you don't have friends you can walk with, contact campus security and ask for an escort.

I then later interviewed Taylor Hurst, Who is an avid runner. Currently Todd is reading the book, Complete Book of Running by Amby Burfoot. Taylor said, "In the book I am reading, there is an entire section on women's running, which has a large question and answer portion about personal safety.:

Personally, I would have never guessed that personal safety is a part of running. However after Todd read some of the suggestions to me, I see that safety as a runner is important and should always be in place. She went on, stating, "I think the book is beneficial to women in all walks of life."

There is a lot of information out there in the forms of ideas, books, internet articles and personal experience. Safety precautions should be taken seriously, regardless of the time day or location.