National Campus Safety Awareness Month: The Importance Of Education And Prevention

September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month, approved by Congress in 2008 to encourage a public conversation about important topics in violence prevention at colleges and universities. It’s an opportunity to highlight tools and resources to support campus safety. It is also a good time to emphasize the importance of educating students about avoiding risk and keeping themselves and their communities safe.

Vector Solutions provides hundreds of high-impact online courses for students, administrators, faculty, and staff, addressing important campus safety topics such as sexual violence, hazing, substance misuse, mental health, and more. It also published a series of Campus Prevention Network National Insights Reports, delving into course survey data to share insights about these critical issues. Below, we share some information and resources to help support prevention efforts for some of the most significant challenges to campus safety.

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. These incidents can have a lasting impact on students’ physical and mental well-being and academics. Vector Solutions’ survey data found there remains a stigma around sexual assault, and many students don’t report it due to fear of being blamed or because they believe nothing will be done. Vector’s data also found that students who identify as LGBTQIA+ report experiencing unwanted sexual contact at nearly double the rate of the whole student population.

What colleges and universities can do:

1. Encourage initiatives that build an inclusive, supportive culture and educate students about sexual assault awareness and prevention to help reduce the stigma and make it more likely students will report incidents.
2. Make sure students understand what resources are available to them and help them have confidence in the institutional systems, processes, and support for victims.
3. Identify any campus-specific factors that may make LGBTQIA+ students more vulnerable to experiencing sexual and gender-based violence at higher rates and develop resources that address the specific needs of these students.

Hazing

Often seen hand-in-hand with Greek Life on campus and athletic teams, hazing also can occur across student groups such as honor societies and performing arts groups. According to a study by Stop Hazing, three out of five students are subjected to hazing on campus, and 95% of students who are hazed don’t report it to campus officials. Currently, 44 states have anti-hazing laws, and there have been recent efforts in Congress to enact legislation requiring colleges and universities to educate students about the dangers of hazing and hold organizations that engage in this harmful behavior accountable.

What colleges and universities can do:

1. Provide hazing awareness and prevention training for students, faculty, and staff. Encourage programming to help build a culture in which hazing is not tolerated.
2. Offer a safe, anonymous way to report hazing incidents on campus. A known deterrent to reporting hazing is the fear of retaliation.
3. Meet regularly with student groups on campus to clarify campus policy around hazing. Host a campus forum for students, faculty, and staff to have an honest and open discussion about hazing in student groups.

Substance Misuse

According to Vector Solutions’ research, instances of substance misuse increase during the first month or two of students arriving on campus. It also found substance misuse disproportionately impacts non-cis-gendered students and that student misperceptions around substance use abound. For instance, a third of students have misperceptions about how often their peers consume alcohol, and two-thirds incorrectly believe that their peers have used prescription drugs without a prescription when, in reality, that number is less than one percent.

What colleges and universities can do:

1. Emphasize education about substance misuse and make sure resources are available and accessible.
2. Counter misperceptions by sharing data that challenges students’ assumptions about their peers’ alcohol misuse. These misperceptions can impact students’ own behavior. An individual is more likely to refuse an offer to use a substance if they believe the majority of their peers are doing the same.
3. Think beyond a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to providing services around alcohol and substance misuse to effectively support non-cis-gendered students and others who may need more targeted outreach.

Mental Health and Well-Being

College students are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety, and they identify challenges with mental well-being as a leading barrier to their success. LGBTQIA+ students struggle significantly more with their mental health than the general student population, and many students don’t get the help they need due to personal or institutional barriers such as time constraints, cost, or lack of knowledge about where to go for help.

What colleges can do:

1. Provide education and outreach to help students understand how to recognize if they or a classmate need help, what to do when they are experiencing mental distress, and when to seek professional support.
2. Support these more vulnerable students by implementing policies and programs that create a welcoming environment for LGBTQIA+ students and identifying resources tailored to their needs.
3. Assist students in overcoming barriers to receiving support.

How Vector Can Help

Vector Solutions provides online courses and resources to support prevention programs for higher education institutions to help create safe, inclusive environments.

Institutions can also take advantage of these free, downloadable resources with valuable information:

Resources on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Prevention

• Vector course library: Sexual Assault Prevention Training for College Students
• Vector Campus Prevention Network National Insights Report “The State of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education.”
• Vector Sexual Assault Awareness Month blog

Resources on Hazing Prevention:

• Vector course “Hazing Prevention: Misconceptions and Pitfalls”
• Vector Hazing Prevention Guide
• Vector webinar “Training Alone is Not Enough – Building an Evidence-based Comprehensive Hazing Prevention Program on College Campuses”

Resources on Substance Misuse Prevention:

• Vector course library: Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention
• Vector Blog: “A View into the State of Alcohol Use and Misuse on Campus”
• Vector Campus Prevention Network National Insights Report on Alcohol Use and Misuse

Resources on Mental Health and Well-Being:

• Vector course on Mental Health and Well-Being for Students
• Vector Campus Prevention Network National Insights Report on the State of Mental Well-Being in Higher Education
• Vector blog “Mental Health Awareness Month: Best Practices for Campus Leaders”