School dormitories are vulnerable to burglary, especially during holiday breaks when fewer students, teachers and school staff are on campus. This makes holiday school safety a must in student dorms and apartments. Is yours safe from burglars?
On average, more than 11,000 burglaries and robberies occurred in campus residence halls across America from 2010 to 2012, according to the Department of Education. FBI statistics corroborates with the data, revealing that small and big colleges and universities are prone to such crimes.
Don’t be part of the statistics—avoid school campus burglary during holiday breaks by equipping your dorm with security systems and being proactive in protecting the belongings you leave behind.
Locking doors and windows are good safety measures, but it’s not enough to ensure a burglary-free holiday break. Here are six school security tips that can help students prevent burglaries during holidays.
1. Upgrade to HD security cameras
Why should you switch to HD cameras for surveillance? Recognizing and catching a criminal is easier when your security camera system can capture high-resolution video footage with superior image quality.
Choose indoor and outdoor HD cameras with a maximum resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) or higher to ensure video clarity. Aside from getting the right cameras from a reputable security store, you can mount a security camera warning sticker on your door to deter burglars from breaking in.
Investing in camera surveillance for your dorm’s safety may cost you and your parents some money, but it’s nothing compared to the loss you would’ve had if your dorm isn’t protected against burglars.
2. Install burglar alarms
Burglar alarms are useful not just in stores, offices, and homes. Your dorm can also benefit from an intruder alarm system. With burglar alarms as school security equipment, campus security officials are instantly alerted of any person trying to sneak into or snoop around your student housing complex.
Burglar alarm devices for schools and dorms can be created through DIY kits. Students can do a real-time alarm monitoring system as a DIY project. Burglar alarm system parts and accessories for DIY alarm systems can be sourced from a campus security store.
3. Make your dorm look less appealing to criminals
Burglars love dark places where they can sneak in, steal anything, and leave without anyone noticing them. Make student residence halls less than ideal for burglars by switching on the lights in the lobbies and hallways at night and during gloomy weather.
If you notice that your dorm building isn’t fully lit at night, talk to the guard or a building maintenance staff to let them know your concerns about your dorm security.
Also, you have to actively participate in dorm security measures. Keep some lights on in your room before you leave for the holiday to make it appear that someone is inside even if you’re actually away.
Keeping some of the lights on also helps achieve clear videos from a surveillance camera installed in a dorm room, allowing you to easily monitor your dorm remotely via a desktop or a mobile device while you’re on break.
4. Don’t leave valuables in dorm rooms
Laptops, tablets, and smartphones—what do they have in common besides being expensive? These are the commonly stolen items in dorms and student apartments.
When packing for the holiday break, you must take these gadgets with them. Other theft magnets such as DSLR cameras and video game gears should never be left in dorms during holidays.
Aside from keeping things in the dorm theft-proof, it also pays to protect important documents. IDs, school records, credit card bills, and other documents can be used by identity thieves to steal money from victims.
So make sure that no valuables are left behind before you leave for the school break.
5. Write down all serial numbers
Large electronic devices and appliances left in dorm rooms during holidays are at high risk of being stolen. In case of a dorm break-in, you have better chances of getting the stolen things back (when they’re recovered by the police) if you keep a list of the serial numbers of your items.
So if you’re a student preparing to leave your dorm for the holiday break, take note of all the serial numbers on the items you’ll be leaving behind and keep the list in a safe place. Doing so will make it easy for you to recover any stolen item in case someone sneaks into your room while you’re away.
6. Read and follow the dorm rules and safety precautions
This one’s pretty obvious but many students ignore. Student housing rules and regulations are there for a good reason: they’re for your own safety. Your school administration may issue some safety reminders and instructions to student dormers before the school break, be sure that you comply and cooperate.
These six holiday season safety tips are just some of the ways students can ensure that everything is safe and intact during the school break. The key takeaway here is to put in some efforts and investments in school dorm security.
For your school security equipment needs, get them at the Alarm System Store today.
Customer Service
