Safety Matters

Their Safety is Really All That Matters

Your child’s safety is of utmost importance, followed by “are they eating?” I know, as a parent, that you can make yourself crazy with worry, so I am going to try to ease your mind. I don’t think that I am a helicopter mom (at least I hope not), but as we send them off to an independent life, we want to know that our kids are safe at all times. Once the tears have stopped (ours, of course), it becomes easier each time you realize they’re growing autonomy and happiness. Knowing they are safe is a forever thing. Therefore, it may be helpful to know that UGA has a few very supportive resources available.

The University of Georgia Police Department and the UGA Office of Emergency Preparedness has developed a mobile phone safety app to students, faculty, staff, and visitors. LiveSafe is a free app and provides safety features and resources like “safe walk” that allows a friend to monitor someone’s progress moving on campus. The campus police can be contacted directly through the app, and any info on emergency events can be followed here as well. Reporting “tips” can be made through the app discretely as well. There are no emergency call boxes on campus, so the app can provide real-time help, rather than having to find and go to a box.

The UGA Alert system sends text and email alerts to students regarding weather emergencies and all other safety concerns. Most of the time, alerts turn out to be non-serious, but the system helps to notify students of areas to avoid, as well as potential emergency situations.

We all miss our kids, but hopefully, we have given them the skills needed to cope and succeed. They are going to experiment: perhaps staying out too late, eating unhealthy meals, drinking and so forth. UGA offers another layer of help if you have concerns that your student is having difficulty adjusting to life on his or her own. CAPS – Counseling and Psychiatric Services is located in the University Health Center. They provide help academically and mentally to students in a variety of ways. Whether they are stressed out, lonely, nervous, or homesick there is someone to help. They offer individual, couples, and group counseling, offer apps that help with stress and positive living and offer a program called #BeWellUGA that holds workshops, stress relief activities, tea times, chair massage sessions, and many other pop-up events. The bottom line, UGA is a large institution and programs like the ones above offer a safety net should your student be in need. Bookmark them, and be sure your student is aware of each; then sit back and wait for the eye roll, but know that you did your duty.

I also recommend getting your student’s roommate’s and/or close friend’s contact information. There is nothing worse than not being able to find your daughter or son; and although it may be as simple as a)they forgot to charge their phone, b) she fell asleep at the sorority house or c) lost their phone under a pile of laundry and is so busy studying didn’t realize it was gone. (Do not laugh; I have lived through all three.) This being said, remind your sons or daughters of the obvious (to us) to not walk anywhere alone (particularly at night) or put themselves in dangerous situations. As any campus police will tell you, crime is always based on the opportunity so if you remove the opportunity, in most cases, you can exist safely on campus. You can also read our Safety Tips for Using Rideshare.

Another good idea is to have your student’s Find My Phone login information. They may resist, but perhaps you can promise not to abuse its benefits in order to make them less resistant. You can also explain how should they go missing (see a, b, and c, above), a cell phone allows the police or anyone else to track your student’s recent activity. Of course, if the phone is shut down it has no service, but it will give the most recent usage. Remind your student to always contact someone (roommate, suitemate, BFF) of their whereabouts, especially if they are not going to be sleeping in the room.

An Uncomfortable Discussion…

Like all other universities, UGA is an open campus in the middle of a town. With its beautiful foliage, brick buildings, and open spaces it’s easy to forget that a college town can attract some undesirable persons. Your students should always be aware of their surroundings. We live in scary times. Sadly, students, today have already learned how to prepare for a “code red” situation in their high schools. Every college has a plan, here is UGA’s plan. Finally, we suggest reading our blog Minimizing Risk for Collegiate Women on Campus, written by our guest blogger Lizz Carter Clark, Executive Director, College Moxie.

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