Stay Safe Out There

Whether as a college student or not, sometimes it's a good thing to remember safety practices. Here are some tips we hope are helpful:

Personal Safety

• With your car: keep anything valuable in your trunk, such as your laptop and all your school or work materials. Thieves will often break into a car when they see a backpack or something that looks like a laptop bag, which may have nothing in it of value, but they'll assume there's a computer they could sell. They'll just take the whole bag, it's faster.
• Keep your hands free: Everyone seems to walk and text as they go about their days, and that's OK as long as you're paying attention to where you are going. At night, though, you might want to reconsider: Your hands won't be free to fight off anyone or for that matter, to press 911, if you're texting or talking, oblivious to the world around you. This goes for having earbuds stuck in your ears: I get that you're trying to block out the world, but sometimes that's a disadvantage
• You could, however, pretend you're talking to someone on your phone if you think someone is following you--maybe they'll believe you're talking to the police or someone about 'he's making me really uncomfortable, I'm going to call 911'

• Noise-canceling headphones can be an issue for the same reason. If you don't hear something or someone approaching, you can't defend yourself.
• Also be aware when you're riding your bike or board: Drivers may not see you whizzing by them until it's too late. Better to skate or ride on sidewalks than in the street. Be considerate, too-stop at stop signs, take a few seconds, and check for oncoming cars. Use the crossing button when there's a light. Assume car drivers don't see you: drivers don't want to hit you, they're trying to take in everything, when suddenly you appear and they don't have time to react fast enough.

                                 Why on earth was this guy going right down the road? He's lucky the car didn't hit him.

• And when you're driving, watch for people walking, biking, or skateboarding. Remember kids are especially hard to predict. Sometimes while they're looking right at you, they're steering themselves out into traffic. Or, they panic and head straight for a car. Keep your cool and take your time.
• For students, have the campus emergency number in your contacts as well as 911
• Know where the campus emergency phones are, or who to contact if someone is bothering you
• Be familiar with your surroundings: it's all new to you, but don't make that obvious to someone else...and if you know where you're going, you won't waste any time getting to your destination because you're lost
• If you go to a party, don't leave alone. Go with a friend, especially if you came there together.
• Walking alone after dark is generally not a great idea. Buddy up and text each other when you're safely inside your dorm or your home, and be sure your friend texts you, too.

                                                                                      Friends

• Know how to activate your flashlight on your phone, or get a little flashlight you can attach to your key chain, belt loop, or somewhere easy to reach. Some of them have very bright lights and could distract someone if you shine it in their eyes--giving you time to run away, or maybe unlock your car and get in, locking it as soon as you shut the door.

• You can buy 'panic buttons' that are also small but powerful: when you sense danger, all you have to do is press a button for a loud alarm sound. Mini air horns are also available.
• Pepper spray is inexpensive, you can get a can of spray (they are available at stores like Target, Walmart, Menards, Amazon) that you can carry on a keychain/lanyard. Try it out so you know how it works before you need to.
• Share your day to day schedule with a few people, so they know where you 'should' be at any given time unless you tell them otherwise.
• If you think you're being followed (listen to your gut/instincts/intuition), go to a well-lit public place where there are lots of people (gas station, restaurant, business), go in, and talk to someone there. They can call police for you, and it gives you a safe place to wait. If you're driving and you know where the nearest police department is, drive there, go in, and tell them. Chances are your stalker won't follow you there.
• Don't go home. If the stalker follows you, even if he then goes away, he now knows where  you live. Ask the police what to do.
• Be sure you don't leave anything with your name and address openly visible in your car. 
• Lock things: Always lock your car, even if it's sitting in your driveway, and lock your garage even if you are home. Lock your dorm room even if you're only going down the hall for a shower, down the next level to the laundry, or to visit a friend for a few minutes. Lock your laptop so it can't be easily taken. Lock your bike to a post or a bike stand. Lock your backpack. Lock everything up. 
• Motion-detection lights aren't expensive and are easy to install. At any movement, they turn on and hopefully would scare someone away. These can be installed over driveways or at entrance doors.
• You can get real or fake 'surveillance' cameras; some of the fake ones even move every few minutes. A thief isn't going to climb up and see if it's real or not.

• Have you heard of 'car shopping'? This is when people roam around in the middle of the night looking for unlocked cars. They try the door, and if it opens, they help themselves to anything they want or might sell: Prescriptions, sunglasses, cash, name brand clothes or shoes, snacks. It happened to me, and it was really unnerving to see someone had been in my car the next day, even though they must have been sorely disappointed.

Online safety tips:

• On any computer, get a firewall, an antivirus app or program (there are several free ones), and antispyware. Some apps or programs include all of those. It's OK to have more than one. This can protect you from viruses that can destroy your data or collect personal information about you.
• Create a 'disposable' email you'll use to give out to places asking for an email to sign up for something, If you aren't 'required' to fill in an email and/or phone number, then don't. More on disposable emails here: https://www.wikihow.com/Set-Up-a-Disposable-Email-Address
• Sometimes when you purchase something in person, the clerk will ask for your email or phone number. You are not required to provide it--you can say 'no, I don't give it out.' They will push, but you just say, 'no thanks.'
• Consider what you post about your personal life on social media. Your actual friends already know where you work, where you live, and other groups you might be a part of. If a new friend (especially a 'social media friend') wants to know something more, he/she can ask you in Messenger. And if you don't care to tell them, that's fine.

• Set Facebook to let you review pictures your friends tag you in, and if you don't want it to be seen on your page, you can shut that down. A picture your friend may think is harmless may look worse to others. Plus, it links you to that person and his/her lifestyle. Keep in mind, too, that like it or not, employers and colleges do look to see what sort of person you are on social media.
• Be very careful of how many and which pictures you post of children, yours or other people's.
• Be respectful of their wishes, assume they don't want you posting pictures of their kids for any reason.
• Never (never) assume someone you have 'met' online is totally innocent and means well. People can charm you into trusting them only to turn out to be bad guys. Be very protective of your safety and who you trust.
• If your gut tells you someone is dangerous in any way, block him or her, and anyone you don't want contacting you. There is nothing at all wrong with that. You don't have to wait for people to do or say anything to you that sets off 'giant' red flags, and you certainly don't have to apologize or explain. People do not receive any notice that you have blocked them, they will realize it when they can't find you and can't message you. If you feel uncomfortable with someone, block. And don't feel bad about it, you have to protect yourself.
• Be especially aware of people who seem to be 'genuinely' romantically interested in you. Be suspicious. Do not meet up with someone you only 'know' online. Keep the person at some distance, and if you ever feel uncomfortable, block him or her. You do not have to be 'nice' to everyone.

• Back to pictures: Putting your name in big letters on your backpack: not a great idea, especially for a child.
• Tech savvy people can figure out where pictures were taken, using geotags in photographs' coding.
• If you take pictures of your house or maybe a party in your yard, you might forget your street number shows in the picture, or even the license plates on your car, making it easy to find you. You or a child in a picture might be wearing a sports jersey with her, or your,  name on it in that picture:  Don't make it easy for bad guys to figure out more about you.
• Also, be smart: Don't advertise on social media that you're going to be on vacation for the next week or few days. Thieves will thank you for all that free time they have to get in, steal, and get back out.
• Always back up your files in some manner. Many people like to use clouds so they can always get data back that's been lost or stolen.
•  It's still true that you should watch for the padlock symbol in the top field of your computer which indicates the site is locked down/secure. Don't do business otherwise.
• Change your passwords fairly regularly, for no particular reason or if you have issues with an account.
• Use good passwords, and don't  use one password and/or user name for all your online business or mail. How to make it tricky? Make it long and seemingly nonsense. Some tips here:   https://lifehacker.com/four-methods-to-create-a-secure-password-youll-actually-1601854240 
• Tons of passwords you never remember? Here are some ideas for safe storage: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/10-free-ways-to-track-all-your-passwords.html

Stay safe out there!!