DrexelAlert is notorious for blowing up everyone’s phones, and making some think that somebody is actually texting them for once.
Usually, people dismiss the text and swipe it out of their notifications.
Although these texts that we always receive can be annoying, it is important to pay attention to them. The amount of DrexelAlert texts that students get every year sends a message about the dangers that people do not expect to happen on a college campus.
Drexel’s campus is open for anyone in Philadelphia to enter, so it doesn’t have the same sense of security as a college in a suburban or rural area. Public safety officers do their best to keep the campus safe, but there is only so much that can be done to avoid all crime.
Everyone has to be careful when they are walking around at any time, especially at night. Most of the DrexelAlert texts I have received were sent late at night, and they also usually involved robbery or assault.
Walking around late at night can be inevitable, especially if someone is just getting out of a night class or studying late at the library. The quietness of the nights in Philadelphia could be eerie, but on the walk back home, just stay vigilant. I always frantically look all around me, because my extensive experience with walking alone at night has helped me hear every sound around me.
Everybody walking around alone at any time should have a charged phone on them in case anything happens. On campus, there are emergency buttons at nearly every corner to report something right away, but students who are going off campus also need to have something to alert others in the case of an emergency.
When walking alone, just keep your head up and away from your phone. This makes someone visibly vulnerable to an attempted attack of any sort; it also makes it easy to bump into and anger other people.
Everybody’s parents have always told them to have fun and be safe — the ultimate goal in college. My mother instilled in me a paranoid vigilance, but I would rather be that way than unaware of what dangers I could face. I always make sure I am aware of my surroundings and that I know how to avoid all possible dangerous situations.
It’s unfortunate that everybody has to be extra careful to avoid unwarranted attacks on the street, but that’s the reality of living in a city. Staying alert of surroundings and crime that is happening in the area is important for keeping oneself safe.
I’m grateful that DrexelAlert exists because otherwise, I would most likely be ignorant to the crimes happening on campus. It’s easy to assume that they can never happen here, but Drexel is no more immune to the effects of crime than any other place in Philadelphia.