Introduction:

What you’ll learn to do: describe safety consciousness and strategies for staying safe on campus and elsewhere

You don’t need to know the whole alphabet of safety. The a, b, c of it will save you if you follow it: Always Be Careful.

—Colorado School of Mines Magazine, Golden, Colorado, August 1918

By the end of this section, you will be able to define safety consciousness and describe strategies for staying safe on campus and elsewhere.

Safety Consciousness:

Safety Consciousness on Campus and in College

College and university campuses tend to have a special feel—so special that when you are on campus you may feel you are fully apart from the wider world around you. But the reality is that any campus is subject to the same influences—indeed, crimes—as the towns and cities that flank the campus. And so it is important to be aware of your surroundings, the people near you, and the goings on in your physical spaces and in your virtual spaces at all times.

In this topic, we explore college safety concerns, and share tips and resources to help ensure that you are always safe, protected, and no more than a phone call away from help if you need it.

Safety Consciousness

Safety consciousness is a term describing your awareness of hazards, and your alertness to potential danger. In order to have safety consciousness, you must value safety no matter where you are or what time of day it is. Your college or university must also be safety conscious—not only by choice, but also by law. In 1990, Congress enacted the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act, which required all schools that receive federal student aid to share information about crime on and around their campuses. The act is now generally just referred to as the Clery Act, in memory of Jeanne Clery, a student killed in her dorm room in 1986.

What does the Clery Act require your college to do? If your college is receiving federal student aid, here are the major legal requirements it must comply with:

• Have emergency notification and evacuation procedures for alerting the campus community about significant emergencies or dangerous situations. Disclose your policies and procedures in the annual security report.
• Issue timely warnings to alert the campus community about crimes that pose a serious or continuing threat to safety. Disclose your policy in the annual security report.
• Keep a crime log that records, by date reported, all crimes reported to the campus police or security department.
• Keep a fire log that records, by date reported, all fires in on-campus student housing facilities.
• Collect crime reports from campus security authorities within the institution.
• Request crime statistics from local law enforcement in the jurisdiction where the institution is located.
• Submit crime and fire statistics to the Department of Education via a web-based data collection.
• Have missing-student notification procedures to aid in determining if a student is missing and in notifying law enforcement personnel. Disclose your policy and procedures in the annual security report.
• Publish an annual security report containing campus security policy disclosures and crime statistics for the previous three years.
• Publish an annual fire-safety report containing policy disclosures and fire statistics for on-campus student housing facilities for the previous three years.

This valuable set of requirements is important for every student to be aware of. It is readily available to you and your family. You don’t need to be a student to access this information about any school.

Indicators of School Crime and Safety

The following video, Criminal Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions, from the National Center for Education Statistics, gives statistical details about safety and crimes on campus. You can visit the National Center for Education Statistics website to view the full related report and learn more about crime and safety in America’s schools and colleges.

Strategies for Staying Safe:

Strategies for Staying Safe on Campus and Beyond

One of the best strategies for staying safe on campus and beyond is to ask questions. Take the initiative to learn more about your college surroundings, the community culture, and safety precautions you’d be well advised to implement.^[1] Below are some questions you can ask to open up important conversations about campus and community safety.

Tips for Staying Safe

Walking, driving, traveling:

• Travel with a buddy.
• Use the campus escort service at night, especially if you are alone.
• If you live off-campus, call someone when you get home.
• Keep moving; don’t linger (especially at night).
• Carry pepper spray or pepper gel.
• Keep a personal alarm (for example, on a keychain).
• If you have a car, lock it.

At home:

• Keep your windows and doors locked.
• Keep the main door to your home, hall, or apartment building locked at all times.
• Don’t let anyone into your dwelling that you don’t know.

On campus:

• Keep a close eye on your belongings when you’re in a library.
• Get a locking device for your laptop.
• Participate in a college safety program.
• Be cautious, not paranoid.

Anywhere:

• Make sure your phone is charged.
• Know the phone number for Campus Safety.
• Put emergency numbers in your cell phone.
• Carry emergency cash.
• Speak up if you notice something going on.

For a truly comprehensive list of tips for staying safe on and off campus, visit FSW Campus Police at Florida Southwestern State College.

Also, don’t hesitate to take advantage of campus and community resources, which may include any of the following:

• websites, offices, organizations, and individuals with safety information
• campus police and campus security
• local police
• sexual assault and relationship-violence services
• shuttle services
• escort services
• counseling programs
• mental health programs
• substance abuse programs
• local health care centers
• campus abuse hotlines

The following video focuses on how to stay safe when on campus. The interviewee sheds light on overlooked areas and situations where students are vulnerable.

Safety expert Matt Pasquinilli reviews five safety tips for college freshman in the video below:

1. Cell phone use can be deadly, as it’s one of the biggest distractions for college students. Have situational awareness.
2. Using alcohol and drugs can ruin a life as one gives up control when they are intoxicated.
3. Don’t walk alone at night.
4. Trust your intuition. If something feels wrong, don’t ignore it.
5. Learn some practical self-defense.
   

Safety Apps

One of the very best safety measures you can take at any time is to keep emergency numbers handy, either on your phone or in your wallet or backpack or a place where you can easily access them. You may also find it helpful to have a safety app on your mobile device. Consider downloading any of the following free apps.

MOBILE DEVICE SAFETY APPLICATIONS

Logo	Description
	bSafe is a personal safety app designed to keep you and your friends safer 24/7. It has features for everyday safety and real emergencies. You can set up your own personal social safety network.
	Circle of 6 U is built specifically for colleges and schools, connecting students to each other and to critical resources on specific campuses. The tool lets you choose up to 6 trusted friends to add to your circle, so that if you get into an uncomfortable or risky situation, with two taps you send your circle a pre-programmed SMS alert message indicating your exact location.
	React Mobile: Users can quickly send out a widespread emergency alert without having to access and unlock their phone. You choose which contacts you would like to share your location with. Then your contact list can be sent an email and a text message with a link to your GPS location. You can also send an “SOS Help Me” message to an unlimited number of buddies.
	Watch Over Me: This tool turns your mobile device into emergency tool with just a shake, even if your phone is locked. The shake turns on your phone’s alarm and video camera, and sends an alert to your emergency contacts.