The recent shooting at UCLA has left people all over the world shaken up for obvious reasons. It was a horrific event that shifted the focus to gun control and campus safety. The aftermath of a campus shooting can cause emotional distress for students and faculty members at any campus. That’s why it’s important for students to feel safe when they return to campus, regardless of the location of their institution.
Highlighting Support Resources After a Crisis
High profile campus emergencies can cause anxiety for returning students, faculty and staff. Students may be looking to seek out mental health support, which is readily available through your mobile app. If it’s not, we encourage you to add it to your app (which we’d be happy to help you with). Having campus support resources in your app makes it easier for students to contact the appropriate service, such as mental health professionals or a support hotline. After an event like the UCLA shooting, it’s important to remind students that these resources are available.
Use your institution’s social media channels to highlight where to find your campus support resources in the app. This will encourage students to seek out help if they are unsure how to contact someone or which resource to use.
Building Confidence with Your App
Your safety app has powerful tools and resources that are designed to help keep your campus safe. This is something that you want students to recognize so that they can feel safe on campus, especially after a serious safety emergency. Educating students about the app's features will help them feel confident using the app themselves, which helps students feel safe on campus.
Students feel safer knowing that they will be immediately alerted if an emergency or threat occurs, as well as having safety resources available. Further, if the reporting capabilities of your app are widely used, it will deter individuals from committing crimes on campus. This alone can help make students feel safer on campus.
Helping students transition back to life on campus after a tragic event (regardless of whether or not it’s on your campus) is an important activity to help your students feel safe. Be sure to let students know that your safety app has the resources to help them feel safe on their campus.
Do you think campuses should address the recent events that took place at UCLA? How should your campus’s safety measures be addressed to concerned students? Comment below and let us know what you think!
