If I heard that there was a 20 percent chance of rain on a day I was to spend outside, I don't think I would take an umbrella. Although the 20 percent chance is slim, the weather is unpredictable and one out of five times, I'd get caught in a storm. A 20 percent chance seemed small until I saw the rain clouds. I didn't think it would rain, but it did. I was soaked. I couldn't go back to my dry clothes after I'd been wet and suddenly the day was ruined. I didn't have a rain jacket but it didn't matter what I was wearing. It wasn't my fault because the weather is about as unpredictable as people but I should have thought ahead.
It'd be easy to tell me to take an umbrella on a rainy day but it's not that easy when we're trying to stop drunk college boys from using our bodies for fun.
Five ways to avoid sexual assault on campus:
1. Never take a drink that you aren't breaking the seal on.
Date rape drugs can be slipped into drinks and given to girls. It's nearly impossible to know if you're drinking a beverage that has been tampered with because the drugs lack taste, smell and color. The drugs cause confusion and leave the victim weak and unable to defend themselves.
2. Never go to a party alone.
Going to a party alone can make victims seem like an easy target. If you have a friend with you, you can keep an eye on each other.
3. Never become so intoxicated that you can't defend yourself.
Drinking in college won't guarantee sexual assault, but excessive drinking on one night can leave victims unable to stop their attacker due to heavy drinking.
4. Take advantage of the safety courses that your campus has to offer on sexual assault.
Most campuses require students to take online or in class courses to inform them of the dangers of sexual assault. Pay attention and learn how serious and close to home this epidemic may be to you.
5. Be the bystander that a victim needs.
If a victim is saying no and the attacker continues, they're being sexually assaulted. Call 9-1-1 or your campus security and get help. If you don't get them help, you're just as bad as the assaulter. Don't intervene if you think it is dangerous.
I will start as a freshman in about a month at Pennsylvania State University . I will be attending a school that just like all other public colleges in America, where there will be a 20 percent chance that I will be sexually assaulted. A 20 percent chance seems small until I'm at a party in a frat house or I'm walking home alone at night. A 20 percent chance seems small until I'm working in the library in a pod of five women and realize that the odds are not in our favor and one of us will be sexually assaulted. It won't matter what we're wearing and after it happens there will be no way to go back to who we were before the assault. Sexual assault on campus is real. Think of yourself and four friends, then think off one of you being assaulted. The statistics are real. Take action and stop it from happening to you and others.
