Will your child be safe?

If trouble comes to campus...

Orientation for new college students always includes good advice about how to stay safe: Don't walk alone at night, don't leave doors unlocked, don't make bad decisions regarding alcohol or drugs.

This summer, the campus safety sessions have taken a more serious tone. At Appalachian State, thousands of magnets were given to students and parents with a Web address: www.emergency.appstate.edu.

There, students learn about a range of dangers, including instructions about what to do if an active shooter enters a classroom: "If you are hiding and flight is impossible, attempts to negotiate with the suspect may be successful. Playing dead may also be a consideration. Attempting to overcome the suspect with force is a last resort that should only be considered in the most extreme circumstances."

That will get a parent's attention.

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings that left 33 people dead and more than two dozen injured, universities are revamping their safety plans. In some cases, they're turning to new technology. In the next few months, UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University will install sirens to blast alarms, and UNC-CH will offer a text-message emergency notification service. More changes are expected. Two statewide task forces are sorting through the difficult issues of privacy, security and how universities should handle students with mental illnesses.

All campuses face pointed questions from worried parents.

Letting go this fall may be a little harder for parents, said Johnne Armentrout, assistant director of Wake Forest University's counseling center, who puts on a seminar for moms and dads of incoming freshmen. Later this month, she will reassure parents that college campuses really are safe compared with the larger community. She has statistics to prove it.

But she knows the April 16 massacre will weigh on everyone's mind -- making this generation of hovering "helicopter parents" even more nervous and overprotective.

"This Virginia Tech thing just plays into that mind-set," Armentrout said.

Ubiquitous cell phones and e-mail only heighten a parent's urge to constantly check on their children. "I have students who talk to their parents eight, 10 times a day," Armentrout said. "It's harder for them to make decisions without consulting their parents on what, I think, is too regular a basis."

So her advice will be this: Your kids are safe, but there are no guarantees on a college campus or anywhere else in the world. Talk to your children about common-sense safety precautions, but don't transmit your fears to them.

Miriam Fahrer of Chapel Hill says her son, Harrison, a student at Appalachian State, has had safety drilled into him from day one. She feels reassured that ASU has been up front and proactive about security, but adds, "It's really understandable if parents would be anxious."

'A culture of concern'

University officials and safety experts say parents should not obsess over the possibility of mass murder on campus. More likely dangers are alcohol-related wrecks or assaults, acquaintance rapes or domestic violence.

Cindy Wallace, vice chancellor for student development at Appalachian State, said the university is working to create "a culture of concern" to keep an eye on students. On Sept. 11, volunteers will knock on the doors of 2,000 students who live off campus and hand out information about safety. The university will communicate more frequently with landlords in adjacent apartment complexes.

"The human factor, the human connection is what's going to prevent something from happening," Wallace said.