Helping students feel safer

Helping students feel safer

October 7, 2014

Share

A number of municipal services and student groups collaborated today to hold a safety event in the Athletics and Recreation Centre.

Hosted by the Campus Safety Working Group, the event aimed to provide students with information about how to be and feel safer at home.

Representatives from Utilities Kingston and Kingston Police collaborated with student groups to provide students with home safety information.

鈥淪afety precautions are small steps that, when taken, increase not only a student鈥檚 sense of comfort off campus but also decrease the likelihood of time away from academics to deal with preventable problems,鈥 says Joan Jones, Student Community Relation Coordinator and a member of the Campus Safety Working Group. 鈥淭here are many campus and community partners who want to help keep students safe. 

Among those attending were Campus Security, which promoted the the campus safety app, SeQUre, and the Alma Mater Society鈥檚 Municipal Affairs Commission. They promoted both the , a confidential space where students can share their concerns about current or potential housing situations, and SPADE, a peer-to-peer service where trained student inspectors will visit student homes to identify property standards violations.

鈥淪tudent safety is an important issue in the University District,鈥 says Ariel Gonzalez, Artsci 鈥16 and the AMS鈥檚 Municipal Affairs Commissioner. 鈥淢any students are first-time tenants and learning how to feel safer in their homes helps improve quality of life and reduces unnecessary stresses.鈥

Representatives from Kingston Police Services were also present, offering general information, while Utilities Kingston provided advice about using exterior lighting to improve environmental safety.