You’re walking home late from volleyball practice, it’s dark out and you’re walking with your headphones in down East 14th Street. You decide to take the short cut through the side street since you had this bad feeling in your gut that you were being followed. In your head you thought nothing bad can happen, you’re almost home, right? Wrong, as you turn the corner, the red pickup truck stops right in between the crosswalk and a bearded man comes out and tries to grab you. Just think, you could have avoided all of this if you knew how. The following things will help you stay safe in any situation.

Why should you be mindful of your surroundings?
In the United States, around 262,215 children under the age 18 get kidnapped every year. That’s around 750 children per day. Whether it be the middle of the day or the dead of night, you are at risk of being kidnapped, boy or girl.
In 2022, 19 percent of children (ages one through 18) die as a result of gun violence. It used to be three out of 10,000 kids per year but, the rise of gun violence started it 2014 and is still rising today.
Knowing your surroundings can help prevent you from becoming one of the 750 kids or 19 percent.
What you should be looking out for?
Fights and drug deals are some of the main issues. Lots of students are eager when it comes to recording fights and share them thinking it would be cool, but their actions can lead to consequences. If young kids experiment with drugs and alcohol, these types of things can go south very fast. People could get hurt or worse. “Don’t do it and move away from the area because you can put you and your friends at risk,” Campus monitor Sabrina Douglas.

Apps you can use to stay safe.
Apps like Noonlight and Bond- Personal security a really good apps that can make you feel safe in dangerous situations. If you feel as if you are in an emergency or dangerous situation, Noonlight is an app where you hold a button down when you feel unsafe, wants you let go the police are notified immediately on your exact location. A dispatch officer will text and call you until they know your safe. And if you accidently press the button, you can have 10 seconds to put in a pin and cancel it. This app is great for when you need quick help in an emergency but can’t call 911. The best part is that it is free. If you want to feel even safer, Bond provides similar features, but you can facetime with operators in your area and you can share your location with an operator that way someone knows where you are always. This app is also great because it makes you feel like you’re not walking home alone, but someone is always watching out for you. The con about this app is that it does cost a good amount of money. Around $50 a month.