“We were walking through Central Park one night and there were some guys walking after us, but [my friend] had her phone so she could dial 911 just in case,” says freshman Arianna Ledesma. “They went away when we were walking towards the exit.”
Both on and off campus, many Aragon students keep safety precautions in mind whether they are with a group or alone.
Senior Marina Chavez says, “Being with [another person] makes me feel safe. More bad things can happen if you’re by yourself. When you’re a girl, more male predators will come up to you if you’re alone.”
“I would definitely feel safer with a guy,” Chavez adds. “Guys are generally more protective.”
Several students agree that—in addition to traveling with a group of friends—keeping a cell phone on hand improves individual safety.
“I’m not afraid of the dark, but I always keep my phone with me,” says freshman Aidan Cole. “I make sure that [my phone] has plenty of battery. I also surround myself with older, bigger people.”
“At night, I definitely watch everything around me and keep my phone in my bag,” says senior Audelina Martinez. “It makes me feel better to have something in my hand.”
One way that some students prepare themselves for possibly dangerous situations is through taking a course in self-defense. Sophomore Caroline Mameesh says, “I took a self-defense class twice that was specifically targeted towards women. What we learned wasn’t anything complicated. If you have your head set straight, these are things you can use. I felt much more comfortable afterwards. One thing I learned was to play weak for a second.”
For the past seven years, Aragon has provided a self-defense unit as part of the physical education program for sophomore girls. This unit is concurrent with the sophomore boys wrestling unit.
Physical education teacher Linda Brown says that recognizing danger is the most important skill taught during the self-defense unit.
“[The students] learn the skills, but I don’t know if they use them,” says Brown. “If they know how to keep themselves safe, they never have to apply the skills.”
Other self-defense devices, such as mace or pepper spray, are prohibited on all campuses in the district. Pepper spray contains a chemical known as capsaicin that causes a burning sensation in the eyes, throat, and nose of an attacker, stunning them for a certain amount of time.
Says an anonymous student, who carries pepper spray at school, “My dad gave [pepper spray] to me when I started high school, just in case. Then freshman year, someone was following me home … I didn’t use [the pepper spray], but I knew that if anything happened I’d be okay.”
This student carries pepper spray with them at all times on their keys, but never removes it from their backpack at school. “That wasn’t the first time I’d noticed him. He came to my door to ask for homework, but I didn’t know him. The fact that he knew where I lived was really unsettling. It really scared my parents, and I was ridiculously scared freshman year by that situation,” the student says. “Before, I thought [pepper spray] was completely unnecessary. After that situation, I realized that the school can’t completely protect you and you might have to do it yourself.”
Student safety on campus is also a concern for university students. College campuses are generally much larger than high school campuses, and thus college students travel a greater distance to get from class to class. Dangerous situations may arise during this commonplace activity, either during the day or at night.
Colleges are aware of this, so some universities provide escort services for students that need to walk a short distance but feel that they may be in a dangerous situation.
For example, at UC Berkeley, the BearWalk system is a free service where students may call to request a walking escort to their next destination. These escorts are Community Service Officers who will be dispatched immediately after a call. Ideally, an escort will arrive within 15 minutes of a call being placed.
Berkeley also offers a Night Safety Shuttle and Door-to-Door shuttle service. The Berkeley Night Safety Services website provides a link to a real-time map that allows students to track nearby shuttles.
When spending time alone or in groups, in high school or in college, on campus or off campus, safety is a paramount issue that should be considered.
