How University Students Can Reduce Their Chances of Becoming Victims of Violent Crime

Back in 1988 when I was teaching numerous Miyama Ryu self defense classes to students at Northwestern and DePaul University, I noticed that the university's public safety department would distribute fliers relating to crime prevention in the areas where students could easily access them.

This literature was very dry and consisted of simplistic points like always walk from the library with someone after dark. I conducted an informal survey to see if any students were reading the pamphlets and if not, why not. The response was somewhat unanimous. Students did not read the literature because they felt they already knew the information and it was boring to read.

Not much has changed 20 years later. The fact is that useful literature on self protection is hard to come by. My most helpful teacher was Jujitsu instructor Dr. John Lewis. He was an assistant District Attorney in Illinois, and he prosecuted violent offenders. John's own sister had been raped and murdered, so he was an avid student of criminal behaviour. He also was an expert on strategies of how not to become the victim of violent crime.

John was a great teacher and a great story teller. So since that time, I have continued to find different sources that could be of help to university students. I will review for you a classic book that I have used for source materials in some of my articles.

Top of my reading list is "The Gift of Fear - Survival Signals" by Gavin De Becker. This book is written by a guy who protects celebrities who are being stalked, he also predicts such as when a domestic situation is about to turn violent. When I first read this book, I could not help but look at the sources of his book. I was certain De Becker must have had the same teachers as I had. He wrote extensively about the concept of inner voice and his approach of using story telling to illustrate his points in crime prevention literature is also effective.

This book made it to the New York Best seller list. Go figure. But all kidding aside, let me tell you, The Gift of Fear should be read by as many persons as humanly possible. The need for students to research ways to keep them safe has not diminished. Every year lives will be saved if persons are more attentive to the realities of violent crime.

Read More About:

Related Articles: