Common Dangers on Campus: What Every College Student Should Know

College students often leave home feeling excited to be taking the next step in their lives. Many of them like their classes, but they also enjoy socializing and meeting many new friends from different backgrounds. They will also gradually learn the skills they need to get excellent jobs when they graduate. 

While the college experience can seem amazing for many individuals, some don’t have such a good time. Dangers lurk on college campuses, the same as anywhere else.

We’ll talk about some of the most prevalent ones right now. You should watch out for these perils if you’re heading to college this fall. 

Sexual Harassment and Assault

An astonishing 63% of Ontario college students report sexual harassment they’ve experienced during their time pursuing their degrees. While that number varies somewhat, sexual harassment remains prevalent on campus. An unwelcome advance when you’re walking to class might occur. Someone might say something about your body or what you’re wearing. 

While this can happen when you’re walking down the street in any city, you might think that in college, the student body would know to behave themselves more. That’s not always the case, though. Some individuals may cross the line with things they do or say. 

If you know it’s a fellow student harassing you, you can always tell campus authorities. Keep in mind, though, that if you do that, you must know the individual’s identity. You might snap a picture of them with your smartphone if you have it on you and can think of it at that moment.

Sexual assaults also happen on college campuses all over the world. They might happen if you attend a party and consume alcohol with your fellow students. However, they may also occur if you’re completely sober and walking back from class or from the gym to your dorm in the evening. 

To prevent these instances, try to walk with friends. If you’re going to a party, stick with people you know and trust. These practices won’t always guarantee your safety, but they can certainly help. 

Risk of Injury During Protests

You might feel when you’re attending college that you should join a protest for a cause in which you believe. For instance, over the past few months, many colleges have seen tension and even violence resulting from pro or anti-Israel or Palestine student groups. 

College can show you that people believe in some of the same things you do and feel passionate about them. You can make lasting friendships with those who share your beliefs. However, when you join a protest, know that chanting and holding signs can sometimes escalate into physical conflicts. 

You might clash with the police or campus security. If you have two sides advocating for different viewpoints on the same issue, you might see violence between students as well.

If you feel strongly about something, you can make your voice heard. Just know that if tension reaches a fever pitch, it’s probably best to leave and let cooler heads prevail. Otherwise, you risk injury or even arrest. 

Robbery and Burglary

Robberies and burglaries do happen on college campuses, just like anywhere else. You might feel if you’re living in the dorms that a general sense of camaraderie will keep people from entering your room and taking your valuables. If you leave the door open or unlocked, you may learn differently pretty quickly. 

Use common sense if you live in the dorms. Close and lock the door to your room if you’re going to class or to hang out with some friends. 

If you live off-campus in an apartment, do the same thing. It’s when you let people go in and out of your room or apartment heedlessly that you might lose something valuable, like money, your smartphone, etc.

As for robberies, they usually happen when an unscrupulous individual sees a chance and takes it. Walking in groups helps prevent assaults, but it can stop robberies sometimes as well. 

It’s also helpful if you try not to carry anything very valuable when walking around campus, especially after dark. If a robber walks off with your credit cards, you can always cancel them. If they get any cash from you, that’s gone for good.  

Underage Drinking and Peer Pressure

You should also know about the dangers that underage drinking poses. If you’re age 21 or over, you can drink alcohol legally. You might consume alcohol at a house party, or maybe you will visit some off-campus bars that have college-themed nights. 

If you’re underage, though, and you drink alcohol, you’re breaking the law. You may feel that everyone does it, so it’s no big deal. However, if the police raid a party and find underage drinkers, they can ticket you. Maybe that means a court appearance or at least a fine. 

If you’re underage, don’t drink, and don’t let anyone pressure you either. Your friends might say you’re uptight if you say no, but understand what’s at stake. 

You jeopardize your chance of graduating with reckless behavior like underage drinking, and you also make a sexual assault more likely if someone sees you drinking and thinks you’ll make an easier target. You also risk someone drugging your drink if you leave it unattended for a moment. 

Drug Use

Drug use also happens on college campuses. You will likely encounter it at some point. Like drinking, you might think it’s common and relatively harmless. You can pay a stiff price if you try certain drugs, though. 

Any illegal substance can harm you, especially if you don’t know its composition. Someone might offer you a pill, but you never know what went into making a street drug. The person giving it to you or selling it might say it’s Oxycodone, but it can turn out to be fentanyl. If so, ingesting a single pill can kill you.

Remember to watch out for all these dangers as a college student, and you should do fine.

IISTE News

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Protect Your Organization By Setting Up the Right Type of Protocols

In organizing the structure of your workplace, getting the right policies and procedures are just the beginning. 

You need to establish follow-up procedures and support services for those times when your team members may be affected by a breach in protocol or another form of support. 

The need for support is true regardless of industry, from construction to service, education, and finance, to book publishing.

 

The Re-Emergence of Normalcy

Any time you get a group of people together, the chance of some direct or indirect adverse action may impact other members. Hence, developing a plan for best practices in order to maximize the positive and mitigate the negative responses is crucial. 

This concept will be especially true as society begins to open up and our everyday lives begin to normalize. The past year hasn’t been easy for anyone, but our ability to read social cues and interact with people in person is probably the most damaging. 

In fact, much of the way we interact with others will change in the short-term and possibly have more prolonged effects. We’ve ingrained social isolation habits, distancing, and more that will be difficult to change right away. 

Our whole way of interacting with people will need to transform over time to become more regular. 

In other words, coming out of the pandemic, people will exhibit more Post-traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, or PTSD, than prior.

Defined as a condition brought about by a terrifying event, PTSD symptoms can significantly impact sufferers’ physical and mental health. 

 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Symptoms can become acute, occurring rapidly after an event, but typically appear a month after it occurs. 

Symptoms of PTSD may include: 

  • The recurrent, unwanted reliving of the event
  • Flashbacks associated with replaying the event over again in the sufferer’s mind
  • Severe emotional and physical reactions to things that may be similar to the event 
  • Tendency to lean into avoidance of similar spaces, interactions, or people

Not all issues of PTSD may stem from the pandemic itself but rather how we interact with each other and treat one another. Issues of bullying, inappropriateness, and even harassment may increase due to the lack of recent social interactions between persons. 

Having a program in place as you begin to bring workers back into the office is crucial. Setting up training and other support programs should be a priority within your organization, including harassment training, counseling, and other team members’ services. 

 

The Effects of Negative Interactions Related to Harassment

Before the pandemic, harassment in the workplace occurred at an astonishing rate. In fact, it’s reported that possibly up to 81% of women have experienced one form of harassment or another in the workplace. 

81% is an astounding number no matter how you look at it, so establishing a safe workplace environment with built-in protocols to handle social interaction issues must be a focus for your organization. 

In order to address any issues, you need to understand the term harassment. Harassment is defined as any unwelcome conduct based on race, color, religion, disability, sex, national origin, or genetic information. 

Some of these actions can be illegal and may create unnecessary liability for your business and organization, especially if there is a complaint that is ignored, or a culture of harassment develops within the workplace. 

To protect your organization, your team members, and your business, you need to establish a clear protocol that handles employee complaints compliant with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If creating a human resource (HR) department is too cost-prohibitive, you can always find a third-party service to create one. 

Many payroll services include HR staffing support as part of their service offerings. If your payroll services don’t offer HR support, search around and find one that does offer the service. It will save you a ton of time reporting, investigating, and decision-making process as needed and well before it becomes a much larger issue. 

Now that things seem to be trending toward a more open society, inevitably, there will be conflicts between people. The catalyst for those conflicts will vary between the type of organization and the people involved. Still, due to the prolonged, stressful uncertainty we’ve all operated under, interactions will lack some of the past’s nuance. 

For those reasons, your organization must be proactive in defining acceptable behavior, guidelines for addressing concerns, and possible ramifications for violations. 

 

IISTE News

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