Urban campuses & CRIME

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. No, I’m talking about 20-year-old young men being held at gunpoint, being shot, death threats as part of attempted robberies etc. My kid went to HS in DC - he’s “not worried,” but it sucks to have a friend undergoing multiple surgeries due to gun shots. This week there have been at least three gun involved muggings, and it is finals week.

OP i am 4 feet 10 inches tall. I am 61 years old.

I have never felt unsafe in a city ever.

Never walk alone at night.
Pay attention to souroundings
Do not talk on your cell phone at night.
Don't be stupid,,,,,,,,,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of college students don’t get murdered or even mugged, OP. Relax.

PP, I’m on a parent’s page where this is an ongoing discussion. We are living it. Don’t tell me not to worry. Tell me what we can do to help our kids.

Has it happened to your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Best of both worlds: a contained college campus that’s located in a walkable suburb right outside a major city, with easy transit options.

Northwestern University absolutely comes to mind. The location seemed perfect when we visited last March.

[Anonymous]

I was at both JHU and Uchicago (never had any issues although I saw some wild situations). The safety presentations focused on using the buddy system, using campus shuttles/ride system rather than walking, staying in well travelled areas, not stumbling around drunk, not wearing or carrying obviously expensive items, immediately handing over jewelry/book bag/wallet (unless someone is trying to move you to another location, then fight/run). JHU Homewood is heavily surveilled so if you make unusual movements on campus, cameras will activate (at least that's what we were told).

I'm sure that the public safety page of your kid's school has all this advice and more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of college students don’t get murdered or even mugged, OP. Relax.

PP, I’m on a parent’s page where this is an ongoing discussion. We are living it. Don’t tell me not to worry. Tell me what we can do to help our kids.

Has it happened to your kid?

b

No, thankfully, but a close friend was shot. There have been multiple incidents this week which has the Parents FB page all abuzz. I am just trying to think of what more can be done to keep the students - and other residents - safe. Good news is cops came quickly today and they made an arrest, but it seems the perpetrator may be a juvenile and it’s unclear if they will be able to detain him.

My kid is like, “Oh, if anyone touches me, I’ll fight back,” and so I’ve told him to just give up his $$ and not to risk anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of college students don’t get murdered or even mugged, OP. Relax.

PP, I’m on a parent’s page where this is an ongoing discussion. We are living it. Don’t tell me not to worry. Tell me what we can do to help our kids.

Has it happened to your kid?

b

No, thankfully, but a close friend was shot. There have been multiple incidents this week which has the Parents FB page all abuzz. I am just trying to think of what more can be done to keep the students - and other residents - safe. Good news is cops came quickly today and they made an arrest, but it seems the perpetrator may be a juvenile and it’s unclear if they will be able to detain him.

My kid is like, “Oh, if anyone touches me, I’ll fight back,” and so I’ve told him to just give up his $$ and not to risk anything.

Name the school.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Also, get off the parents FB page. Your kid is an adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at both JHU and Uchicago (never had any issues although I saw some wild situations). The safety presentations focused on using the buddy system, using campus shuttles/ride system rather than walking, staying in well travelled areas, not stumbling around drunk, not wearing or carrying obviously expensive items, immediately handing over jewelry/book bag/wallet (unless someone is trying to move you to another location, then fight/run). JHU Homewood is heavily surveilled so if you make unusual movements on campus, cameras will activate (at least that's what we were told).

I'm sure that the public safety page of your kid's school has all this advice and more.

Thank you, pp. The issue here is the university does not guarantee on campus housing after freshmen year, and these incidents are occurring a few blocks off campus, where the students live in private apartments and houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. No, I’m talking about 20-year-old young men being held at gunpoint, being shot, death threats as part of attempted robberies etc. My kid went to HS in DC - he’s “not worried,” but it sucks to have a friend undergoing multiple surgeries due to gun shots. This week there have been at least three gun involved muggings, and it is finals week.

OP i am 4 feet 10 inches tall. I am 61 years old.

I have never felt unsafe in a city ever.

Never walk alone at night.
Pay attention to souroundings
Do not talk on your cell phone at night.
Don't be stupid,,,,,,,,,

Okay, I'm 60 and 6 inches taller. I live in a city, walk alone at night, and follow your other guidelines. There are times I've felt unsafe, but less so as I age as I can now afford taxi/uber at night and where I visit/hang is much more narrow than it was 30 years ago. I still live in a big city and largely find it safer than smaller cities/towns as i really have no idea what might be going on there (too many true crime podcasts perhaps).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at both JHU and Uchicago (never had any issues although I saw some wild situations). The safety presentations focused on using the buddy system, using campus shuttles/ride system rather than walking, staying in well travelled areas, not stumbling around drunk, not wearing or carrying obviously expensive items, immediately handing over jewelry/book bag/wallet (unless someone is trying to move you to another location, then fight/run). JHU Homewood is heavily surveilled so if you make unusual movements on campus, cameras will activate (at least that's what we were told).

I'm sure that the public safety page of your kid's school has all this advice and more.

Thank you, pp. The issue here is the university does not guarantee on campus housing after freshmen year, and these incidents are occurring a few blocks off campus, where the students live in private apartments and houses.

yeah, that's what you have to consider. fortunately neither of my kids opted for those settings. one half considered it and was relieved when they changed their ED. for a lot of reasons, no guaranteed on campus housing would make me cautious in a variety of settings, but especially urban ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. No, I’m talking about 20-year-old young men being held at gunpoint, being shot, death threats as part of attempted robberies etc. My kid went to HS in DC - he’s “not worried,” but it sucks to have a friend undergoing multiple surgeries due to gun shots. This week there have been at least three gun involved muggings, and it is finals week.

I know a 7' tall African (ie: from Africa) black man who was a student at Catholic, who was not only held at gunpoint in the middle of late morning, but also carjacked. Not to mention several students who have been robbed at the metro station there - during the day - at gunpoint.

If you think you should not choose a city, then don't choose a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with students attending universities situated in high crime areas of various cities, can you share what your university does to help keep kids safe from muggings as they walk off-campus?

Would love to hear stories about what’s worked vs not worked. Thank you so much.

Young men may need to learn the safety tips that young woman have to incorporate every day of their lives to avoid sexual assault and murder. The college may provide security on campus and rides even off campus. But ultimately the students need to take standard city precautions. I’d love for my kid to choose a safer campus but if not, she’ll be worried about more than muggings. But I will tell her to hand over her money and carry at least $20. For women, even campus security escorts aren’t necessarily safe.

Really? You want your kid to be navigating this environment while they are trying to learn, and adult for the first time. No thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of college students don’t get murdered or even mugged, OP. Relax.

PP, I’m on a parent’s page where this is an ongoing discussion. We are living it. Don’t tell me not to worry. Tell me what we can do to help our kids.

Has it happened to your kid?

b

No, thankfully, but a close friend was shot. There have been multiple incidents this week which has the Parents FB page all abuzz. I am just trying to think of what more can be done to keep the students - and other residents - safe. Good news is cops came quickly today and they made an arrest, but it seems the perpetrator may be a juvenile and it’s unclear if they will be able to detain him.

My kid is like, “Oh, if anyone touches me, I’ll fight back,” and so I’ve told him to just give up his $$ and not to risk anything.

I would pray my child transfers.

Otherwise, I would have trouble sleeping every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. No, I’m talking about 20-year-old young men being held at gunpoint, being shot, death threats as part of attempted robberies etc. My kid went to HS in DC - he’s “not worried,” but it sucks to have a friend undergoing multiple surgeries due to gun shots. This week there have been at least three gun involved muggings, and it is finals week.

OP i am 4 feet 10 inches tall. I am 61 years old.

I have never felt unsafe in a city ever.

Never walk alone at night.
Pay attention to souroundings
Do not talk on your cell phone at night.
Don't be stupid,,,,,,,,,

Okay, I'm 60 and 6 inches taller. I live in a city, walk alone at night, and follow your other guidelines. There are times I've felt unsafe, but less so as I age as I can now afford taxi/uber at night and where I visit/hang is much more narrow than it was 30 years ago. I still live in a big city and largely find it safer than smaller cities/towns as i really have no idea what might be going on there (too many true crime podcasts perhaps).

How safe you feel can have zero relationship to how safe you actually are.

There are statistics that reflect the reality of how safe your kid will be in a given city. Ignore them at your own peril.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best of both worlds: a contained college campus that’s located in a walkable suburb right outside a major city, with easy transit options.

This is absolutely the sweet spot, but crime can happen anywhere. Look at Idaho and Charlottesville. UChicago, Hopkins, some NYC schools really try to secure the campus, but students should be very prepared to be street smart and avoid risky situations.

Amazingly stupid take. "Crime can happen anywhere" but the crime rate varies a lot from place to place.