| the rising cost of tuition, school supplies, transportation, | | | | blessings safe. What can you, as a college, do to help |
| and housing, parents and students alike are feeling a bit | | | | allay some of the parent’s and student’s |
| overwhelmed. When the beginning of the school year | | | | fears? Being open about violence in your school is a |
| approaches parents gather their income around them | | | | start. When students know what to expect they are |
| and hold tight hoping to have some money leftover to | | | | more likely to be on the lookout for suspicious |
| feed their dog. After what they have spent on school | | | | behaviors and activities. Keeping students and parents |
| supplies and clothes, who can blame them? | | | | in the dark can only make things more hazardous. |
| Student’s eyes bulge out of their heads when | | | | Strengthening or implementing a college watch |
| they receive their schedules and housing assignments. | | | | program can increase the eyes and ears around the |
| With the increased work load and loss of free time, | | | | school to help keep violence to a minimum. |
| who can blame them? It doesn’t seem like | | | | Advertising for your school counseling program is also |
| college is going to be a very fun experience for either | | | | a great way of helping students feel like they have |
| of them. | | | | someplace to go if they need to just talk. Having a |
| So what can you, as a school, do for them to help | | | | safe place to vent or share personal experiences can |
| them ease into the school year with as little turbulence | | | | seriously increase the overall feeling of peace and |
| as possible? Here are a few things that come to mind. | | | | acceptance in a college setting. |
| Open Your Doors and Hearts | | | | Home Away from Home |
| For many students, traveling thousands of miles from | | | | New students and freshmen, especially, can feel like |
| home to live and study in a foreign environment is like | | | | college is as far from home as the moon. Making |
| leaving the Earth for distant Mars. When the school | | | | students feel at home is a great way to keep them |
| year begins its final approach, why not plan an open | | | | coming back year after year. Before students arrive |
| house that is more than an open house. Most college | | | | for the school year, why not create care packages |
| open houses are just weekend long meetings with | | | | for new arrivals? Fill these care packages with |
| free school food and lots of paperwork thrown in. | | | | hygiene products (tooth paste, lotion, travel sized |
| Why not have a Luau instead? Creating an informal | | | | shampoos and body wash), sticky pads with the |
| setting where parents, students and faculty can meet | | | | school logo on them, t-shirts, hats, stuffed animals that |
| and mingle will help the parents and students feel a little | | | | resemble the school mascot, and basic school supplies |
| more connected to the school as a facility and place | | | | (pencils, notebooks, and highlighters). Little things really |
| of study. Parents and students can take a tour of the | | | | do go a long way to making the new student feel a |
| school grounds and dorms without feeling like they are | | | | little more at home. |
| on a tour of a Civil War museum. | | | | With all the colleges in the world where parents can |
| Safe and Secure | | | | send their children, you want to make your college |
| It’s hard to imagine a parent sending their kid | | | | stand out among the international crowd. By making |
| off to college without fearing for their child’s | | | | your school a more open, welcoming, safe place you |
| safety. Colleges are scary places. With increased | | | | are adding to your overall appeal. Going to college |
| school violence, date rape, thefts, hazings, and other | | | | shouldn’t be like leading the lambs to slaughter; it |
| college safety issues college can seem like a very | | | | should be about letting the baby bird out of its nest. |
| unsafe place, indeed. When parents send their children | | | | You college can be the very place where many |
| to college, they are sending their children to you with | | | | students “learn to fly”. |
| the faith and hope that you will keep their precious | | | | |