How can I equip my college freshman to be safe on campus?
First of all, make sure that your college freshman understands that they're going to, in many cases, a new environment. See if the university police or safety officials offer any type of safety briefing and see that they go to that briefing. Just sit down and talk with them. Make sure they understand that things are going to be different in terms of their need to supervise and regulate themselves, their need to be aware. You can see if there are any crime prevention classes for personal safety offered by your local police or sheriff's department. Many law enforcement agencies offer those types of seminars or courses. When I was a school district police chief, we taught them to our graduating seniors who were college-bound. We had a seminar that was available, they had to come on a weekend. But it was a free seminar for them on what to do for your safety when you go off to college. When I was a university police officer, we taught classes for incoming freshmen to teach them what they could do to enhance their level of safety. We gave them, I think, some pretty helpful advice. So see what resources are out there, and basically talk to your college freshman about this.
