Our topic this week was national security and the question that stuck with me from our discussion was: would you rat someone out? If you witnessed a crime, would you report it to a proper authority? And I think the answer depends on the situation. If I saw or knew that one of my friends stole from a store--I would question them directly. Ask them, why'd you do it? Make them question their actions, and make me question my own judgment in befriending a thief. Was this a one time mistake, or a behavior flaw I just hadn't noticed? In a situation where I witness physical violence, I would probably not go up to the attacker and, risking my own safety ask, "why are you hurting this innocent victim?" Rather, I might call the police to report the crime or wait until the attack was over to help the victim. Yet, I don't think many college students would do this. Would they really take the time to call the cops to report a crime, or would they just talk about how horrible the situation is as they walk right by? Would they even notice someone was being hurt? What would happen if you later learned that the person whom you walked by and talked about without helping was your roommate's sister or even your best friend--what would you do then? Why can't every victim be someone you know? Why would you treat someone you know differently then a stranger when in reality, they are both victims?
More importantly than dealing with the victims, how can we prevent the crimes in the first place? On a campus as large as Penn State's it's a wonder that we don't have more security. Yes, there are campus police and borough police and state police patrolling the area. There are ID cards you have to swipe to get into buildings, and blue light emergency call boxes all around campus. Yet, we still have incidents of violence and disruptions. Currently, there is a streaker on the loose on campus--working his way into various dormitory buildings and exposing himself to students. Does our common courtesy to hold the door open allow exposure incidents to occur? Does it make us more secure to be rude and shut the door on the person behind us so that they have to swipe their card or call a friend to come let them in? If we do happen to let someone we don't recognize in to the building, are college students going to question them about where they're going and who they're going to see and then wait for the friend to come meet the guest? I don't know about you, but I have other things to do with my time than wait for people to meet their visitors. If I have an armful of books, it would be really nice for someone to hold the door for me. I think that our generation has become unaware of the seriousness of the potential situation to worry about what might happen if they do this or don't do that. But then again, should we always be living in a "what if" world? If we always worry about what might happen or the potential for this to occur, I think we forget to live our lives.
More importantly than dealing with the victims, how can we prevent the crimes in the first place? On a campus as large as Penn State's it's a wonder that we don't have more security. Yes, there are campus police and borough police and state police patrolling the area. There are ID cards you have to swipe to get into buildings, and blue light emergency call boxes all around campus. Yet, we still have incidents of violence and disruptions. Currently, there is a streaker on the loose on campus--working his way into various dormitory buildings and exposing himself to students. Does our common courtesy to hold the door open allow exposure incidents to occur? Does it make us more secure to be rude and shut the door on the person behind us so that they have to swipe their card or call a friend to come let them in? If we do happen to let someone we don't recognize in to the building, are college students going to question them about where they're going and who they're going to see and then wait for the friend to come meet the guest? I don't know about you, but I have other things to do with my time than wait for people to meet their visitors. If I have an armful of books, it would be really nice for someone to hold the door for me. I think that our generation has become unaware of the seriousness of the potential situation to worry about what might happen if they do this or don't do that. But then again, should we always be living in a "what if" world? If we always worry about what might happen or the potential for this to occur, I think we forget to live our lives.
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