Student Safety Top Priority as College Begins

Whether it's in the big city or the sleepy suburbs, college can be all fun and games — until somebody gets hurt.

As new students start their first year of what some call "the greatest time of their lives," the word "greatest" may not always be the case. For many first-year students, college is a different lifestyle: the reality of a heavy workload, the experience of being on one's own and, let's face it, the frequent exposure to alcohol and drugs.

But college isn't this death trap of a place. For the first-year student, it's a microcosm of the real world shaped in a way that allows the student to make decisions on his or her own that could either jeopardize or enterprise their future. But sometimes those students could use a little bit of assistance.

That assistance comes in the help of the hundreds of campus security forces stationed at colleges and universities around the nation. Their intent? To make sure that the first year student is able to successfully have a good first year with very little, if any, emergencies or incidents.

Gary Christie, assistant director of campus security at Seton Hall University in South Orange, said safety starts at orientation.

"It's comprehensive. We have orientations and mandatory programs through Freshman Studies," he said. "For the students living in campus housing there are ongoing discussions in the residence halls. We do poster campaigns and provide crime prevention information in print, online and through the student newspaper. We also bring in guest speakers and have a freshman mentoring program to provide guidance."

Christie said some first-year students new to the college experience could find the process of judging right from wrong a challenge when confronted.

"For students away from home for the first time we talk about moderation, good decision-making and remaining in control," he said. "We discourage them from following the crowd like a sheep. For the women, who are most at risk for sexual assault, we offer safety information and self defense programs."

Keren Baruch, a West Orange resident and student at Barnard College for Women in New York City, said that no matter the location of where one goes to school, safety precautions are all the same.

"Although the safety measures taken in the middle of New York City are slightly more precautionary, as far as I have heard from my friends, the basics of campus safety remain constant regardless of location: it is never safe to walk alone at night and always stay alert," said Baruch.

As all orientations go, Baruch said the incoming class was lectured in length about safety precautions.

"During orientation, all Barnard freshman were required to attend a safety lecture by the head of Public Safety. We were shown a comical PowerPoint regarding basic campus safety from laptop protection in the library to locking your dorm room so an enterprising thief wouldn't steal your clothes while you were in the shower," she said. "After this, we were given a more serious lecture about the dangers of New York City. We were urged to never walk alone at night."

Christie said freshmen tend to have a period of adjustment.

"They take risks because they want to fit in or because they have never had bad experiences from poor choices," he said. "By the end of the first semester, most of them figure it out."

Naiya Craig, a Seton Hall University freshman, said she's OK with most of the school safety policies, such as bolting doors closed.

"I'm a little bit too naïve. I've never really had anything stolen from me. In terms of keeping me safe, it's going to make sense," she said. "I think the first thing I would have to do is realize that not everyone here is my friend. I'm a very friendly person and I expect the best out of everyone, but I think everyone in a college setting should realize that you don't know where everybody came from, you don't know their past, you don't know what kind of people they are. If I'm going out with people whom I don't necessarily know, I would have to watch out for myself."

The biggest threat to first-year students, though, is not theft, but underage drinking, said Christie.

"We go to great lengths to provide a safe and secure campus environment for our students. Generally, Freshmen are inexperienced drinkers who don't know their limits and sometimes drink to excess," he said. "This can lead to sexual assault, risk taking off campus, a negative effect on academic performance, legal problems, disciplinary issues  and relationship problems to name a few."

But, as much as students think administrations are being hard on them, Christie said it is in the student's best interest to cooperate and listen to safety officials. 

"New students should take their time and become familiar with the environment and the people around them before making choices that could affect them for a long time," said Christie.