College Campuses: Are They Safe? Since the 1980s, a shift in thinking about college and university campuses has occurred in the United States. No longer is the “ivory tower” of academe perceived as a place of retreat for scholarly inquiry. Nor is college perceived as a time of growth where students “find themselves” and their place in the world. Rather, when talk turns to life on college campuses, that talk is often about crime, especially violence. (sloane) Most students are filled with excitement about their new lives on campus, but they don’t know the dark horrors and dangers that could lay ahead of them. Many have wondered why have these disruptions happened now though, but they are just simply uninformed of college campus’ dark past. Crime in college has always been here. One main place where violence flourishes is the Greek Societies. The first modern fraternity began in 1825, but the violence didn’t begin until the 1990’s. This was the same time when concerns of binge drinking and hazing began (Mantel). What crime are campuses facing exactly? Some problems include: rape, hazing, corruption in the Greek Societies, and gun violence. What is causing these crimes? “As …show more content…
These substances change how people act and think. One day someone may be the nicest person anyone could meet, and a few days later while under the control of unhealthy substances they become much darker and more dangerous. Students put themselves and others at risk when they decide to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. “Students who misuse drugs face higher risks of physical and sexual violence, physical problems, and psychological issues”(opposing). It is obvious to see that there is not one, but many connected problems afflicting college campuses. Many Greek Societies lead students to “experiment” with Alcohol or other drugs. This “experimenting” then could very likely lead to being violent or being a recipient of
In Daniel Luzer’s article, “Is Alcohol Really to Blame for the Prevalence of Sexual Assault on College Campuses?” published on November 18, 2013 by Pacific Standard, the author argues that alcohol is not the only thing to blame for sexual assault on college campuses. He observed that alcohol has always been a risk factor when it comes to sexual assault, but drinking is not what has changed throughout the years. What has changed is the way men and women socialize with one another. Throughout the years, interaction between young men and women in college has become less instructed. Back then colleges were not coed and there were rules for when women were allowed in the male dorms including certain times they were allowed there. There are not as
My overall reflection of this passion project has taught me an immense amount. I felt very passionate about the topic of Gun Violence in Washington because in the world, there are many disasters that take innocent lives. Each day parents send you to school to learn, not to be shot and killed. I've felt every emotion researching in this topic. Learning about the laws and lives taught me to appreciate everyday of my life and live it to the fullest because I might be the next one. Learning and hearing the news that kids are my age will never graduate because someone decided that it is okay to bring a gun into school. For example, on May 18,2018 there was a shooting that took place at Santa Fe High School took the lives of 10 students. Hearing a notification on my phone, seeing another shooting in school shocks me every time. Everyday we
It would be wrong to say violence ends when you turn the television off or act as if injustice didn’t exist anymore, but if you reflect back on 2016 so far, one of the biggest topics that often dominates the news and blogosphere concerned the high frequency of assaults on college campuses around the country. In the place where many young adults begin to learn who they are and who they want to be while enjoying a comfortable freedom and safety among their peers discovered freedom and safety could not always be guaranteed.
Reports indicate violence on a college campus are commonly caused by a student against students (Dickerson). Most cases of college violence occurred in the earlier 1990s and 2000s but severely of the incidents out of 272 cases the perpetrators killed 281 people incapacitated 247 or more (Dickerson). With the effective passing of Concealed carry laws, they have caused a possible increase of violence on college campuses (Dickerson). Even though guns on campus seem like a good idea for young adults for safety. Their brains are still developing as they still being perceived as physical mature (Dickerson). Many college students are easily persuaded and pressure to enact in risky actives. They get indulged more with alcohol and drugs staying on campus and it shows one risk students are faced with (Dickson). Dickson believes there are alternative ways to keep college students and faculties safe without the handling of guns on
Today thousands of young students go to colleges and universities here in America. With so many young minds placed onto one campus with little to no parental supervision the question is asked: are college campuses a safe place? Yes, most college campuses across America are safe. A study prepared by “the campaign to keep guns off campus” shows that the crime rate for college is monumentally lower than the rate for the city where the campus is located. For example, in 2013 the city of Jacksonville Florida had 452 cases of forcible rape and 3,277 accounts of aggravated assaults. A staggering amount compared to 1 forcible rape and 6 counts of aggravated assaults at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. But what keeps students safe on
Is campus carry truly effective in decreasing gun violence on campus? Or does it, instead, pose a threat to students and faculty? The campus carry law refers to the policies that allow appropriately licensed students and faculty to carry a handgun on campus as long as the gun is hidden from sight. Several states, including Texas, have passed concealed carry; as a result, polarizing debates have ensued over the effectiveness of the law. Shootings have been occurring at institutions of higher education since the early 20th century (Cobb 35). The first incident of campus shooting occurred at the University of Texas in 1966, by a student named Charles Whitman. Since then, there has been several other university shootings, and they have become more frequent within the last two decades. As a result of this, as well as other shooting incidents such as, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Oregon Mall, and Aurora movie theater, in recent years, the debate over allowing concealed carry on campus has gained a lot of momentum with very conflicting opinions. Proponents of concealed carry consider it to be the best answer to decrease the injuries and casualties of a gun related incident, while opponents consider allowing firearms on campus a threat to the safety of campus constituents. Agreeing with opponents of campus carry, I believe by allowing the concealed carry of firearms on campus, we are potentially compromising the safety of students and faculty, thus universities should push for
In the year of 2015, there were approximately 23 college campus shootings (Sanburn). While walking to class, students should feel safe and secure at all times. Because of the current gun control laws, it is hard to feel that way. There have been too many college campus shootings that result in an uneasy feeling while walking through campus, and that is simply not okay. The violence that is being caused each day because of guns has become unbearable. There have been several different occurrences in the past year of mass shootings in different areas. Guns are making everywhere an unsafe and risky place to be. Gun control is an issue that needs to be addressed during this election because these weapons are adding too much violence to the world and are the reason for the end of
Sometimes people can react in a situation they never thought they would react in. They say they will act in a certain way until that situation occur. When discussing gun laws people shouldn't be allowed to carry them on campus because people wouldn't know how to react. People can get caught up in situation they never thought they can get into and react in either a smart way or a dumb way. According Erin Sheehan a witness of the Virginia Tech shooting “In a nearby classroom, students decided to jump from the second floor through the window, and ran for safety to a nearby window.” People fear for their lives so much they reacted in jumping out the window not even thinking twice about if it would kill them. According to Sarah Evans who was
Way too often are sexual assaults happening on colleges campuses. Because of these sexual assaults, females students have a hard time being safe on campus, or even staying on campuses. Statistics state, “1 in 4 college women will be the victim of sexual assault during her academic career… Every 21 hours there is a rape on an American college campus… College women are most vulnerable to rape during the first few weeks of their freshman and sophomore years”(Sexual Violence on College Campuses). Everyone says that your college days are the best days. Well they are, until a sexual assault or a murder has occurred on your campus. Now students are afraid to walk on their campus and feel safe and secure. They are afraid to enjoy their college experiences, thus not making their college experience the best years of their life. Do you think that Campus Security is doing enough to help prevent these crimes from happening? Do you think that the college crimes are only happening to certain students? Is college really as safe for students as it is made out to be? To understand the dangers of college campuses, it is important to analyze the statistics of college crimes, the people committing these crimes, the data from high profile cases, and the steps to make campuses safer. I feel like if the students on campus know that they have a safe environment then they will enjoy life more, maybe even become more
In the past couple of years, violence in colleges have been on the rise. Many crimes happen that the media don’t inform the public about because they don't want college to seem as dangerous as it really is. Guns made for people for a means of defense can be used to save lives and can also be used to end them. Colleges will lose a lot of money when students find out just how dangerous the campus can be and they should want students to feel safe. Pepper spray is not always able to take out a shooter or anyone that is armed for a long period of time. Just holding a gun makes a person feel safe whether it has ammo in it or not. Even though guns on campus can bring harm to others when a psychopath can use his or her gun right for killing rather
The tragic events at Virginia Tech in April of 2007 and Northern Illinois University in February of 2008 have policymakers, campus officials and citizens looking for solutions to prevent future attacks (Dickerson). Violent shootings that have occurred on a few college campuses in recent years have provoked a debate over
As a University, it is essential to notify the students of all act of violence that occurs on and around campus. It is of the utmost importance for the students to be familiar with any activities on or around campus that puts their safety at risk.The Students for Concealed Carry organization stated, in their May 2009 article, that “...statistics clearly show that thousands of crimes take place on college campuses daily...2001, 610 murders and 11,659 robberies were reported across college campuses in America...2005 to 2007 more than 100 murders, 16,000 assaults, and 10,000 forcible sexual assaults were reported on college campuses.” Due to University security being a vast issue in our country, it is vital La Salle does any and everything possible
On December 14, 2012, 26 people died from being shot by a gunman that broke into the school. Six of the people that died where teachers, and the 20 others were students. If the teachers had firearms, they could have prevented this. In a survey of 20,335 people 75% of them voted that teachers should be able to carry firearms on campus, and the other 25% voted that teachers shouldn’t be able to carry firearms on campus.
Safety is a tremendous issue on college campuses, and additional procedures need to be taken to prevent crimes from happening. When walking onto a college campus as a young adult, people get a rush of the unknown. The unknown could be going to college parties and late night study groups. College should be like any high school or elementary school and have better security measures to protect their students. The reasons we need these extra steps are to prevent violence, give students a sense of security, and monitor visitors on campus.
Before exploring the process of constructing campus crime as a social issue, Sloan III and Fisher (2011) found it necessary to report on the history of campus crime in American universities as the majority of the public assumes that campus crime is a relatively new phenomenon when in fact, campus crimes has been a prominent (yet not very visible) issue since the founding of the