2. Protect your drink
Watch when your drink is poured, keep your hand over your drink at all times, never leave your drink unattended
This danger wasn’t part of myteen years but it is a very real danger now. It is very easy to slip something into someone’s drink who isn’t paying attention and unfortunately, there are people who take advantage of this opportunity. If you need go to the bathroom, you finish your drink first or leave it with a trustworthy, vigilant friend – and visa versa. If you think, for any reason, that your drink may have been tampered with – get rid of it!
3. NEVER go anywhere alone after dark, PERIOD.
I don’t care how close you live to the library, how close the dining hall is, that you really want to go to see your friends at another location, that you need cash from the ATM, or your friends are already out and you want to meet them. If you can’t find someone to go with you, you don’t go. Many schools now have nighttime safety shuttles that will pick you up wherever you are on campus and deliver you right to the front door of your dorm, free-of-charge. The one at my daughter’s school runs until 3am, so there was no reason that she ever had to walk back to her dorm from the library or dining hall alone at night. Each school has its own name for this transportation and many make it as simple as clicking an app on your phone.
Besides the three rules I had for my daughter, I would also make the following recommendations for parents:
Get the phone numbers of one or two of your child’s friends, and make sure they have your number too. I made sure when I met my daughter’s roommate at freshman drop-off, that I got her phone number and gave her mine. This was not to stalk my daughter, but it made me feel better to know that if I was unable to get in touch with my daughter and had a genuine concern for her safety, there was someone in her life I could contact. I have never abused this, although I did call her roommate to help me plan a surprise for my daughter’s birthday. I also wanted her friends to know that they could and should reach out to me if my daughter was every hurt, sick, or for any other reason.
Sign up for the university’s alert system and make sure your child has as well. I would think just about every university now has an alert system where they send out text messages and/or email messages if there is something of concern going on, be it weather, safety, or campus issues.
Put the contact numbers for the campus police and a direct dorm line on your phone. Should you ever have a moment of panic, you aren’t going to want to have to search for these. It gives me peace of mind to know I have these and, thankfully, I’ve never had to use them.
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Originally posted on 21stCenturyMom.com, published with permission.
Did you give your child any rules for college? What did you tell them about personal safety? Please leave a comment below. Also, join us on Facebook for discussions on Parenting your college student.
