The First Six Weeks of College are the Red Zone of Vulnerability for Freshmen Coeds - Learn How to be Vigiliant
Nashville, TN (PRWEB) September 22, 2015 -- Incoming freshmen coeds are considered especially vulnerable as rape and sexual assault victims during their first 6 weeks of college.
“Research tells us that 75%-80% of all ‘reported’ sexual assaults on college campuses happen to freshmen women,” said Michael “Moose” Moore, Senior Partner of The Vigilance Group, based in Brentwood, Tenn.
The Vigilance Group calls this phenomenon “the Red Zone of Vulnerability.” Moore said their vulnerability occurs because of unfamiliar surroundings, homesickness, insecurity, and the fact that predators prey on the innocence of these young females.
“They generally don’t know where to safely eat, walk, jog, or even how to get to class,” he said. “Their support system of friends and familiarity of their surroundings has not been built yet.”
“The best defense against the Red Zone of Vulnerability is the safety net of vigilance,” said Moore, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a Fighter Pilot with a 20-year military service record. He defines Vigilance as “recognizing any unusual behavior that does not fit the context of the environment.”
What bothers Moore about this definition for new college coeds is that they don’t yet know their new environment and consequently don’t recognize suspicious or unusual behavior!
The Vigilance Group has developed a series of workshops that teach the vigilance skill set for people in a new or unusual environment. Moore explained that these skills are learned behaviors, which The Vigilance Group calls the Three, A’s of Vigilance: Awareness, Avoidance, and Action:
Awareness - you have the right and permission not to be a victim
Avoidance - the only way to avoid a crime of opportunity, is to remove the opportunity
Action - knowing the actions necessary to live safely in a dangerous world
"Our world has simply become a more evil and dangerous place to live,” says Moore. "I'm not a psychologist or counselor, so I don't focus on 'why' this has happened, but on how to avoid danger," he explains. "As parents we raise our daughters to be lambs and gentle spirits, because that is how we were raised. We give them cars to drive, freedom to explore and then send them off to college and expect them to survive," he says. "The threat is always there and they are extremely vulnerable unless someone teaches them how to be vigilant."
About The Vigilance Group
The Vigilance Group teaches how to live safely in a dangerous world by cultivating personal power for vigilance and safety. They specialize in teaching the life skill of vigilance and personal safety, by focusing on the principles of awareness, avoidance, and skillful action. Their purpose is to give people permission not to be a victim. They provide the knowledge, training, and confidence to empower people to avoid situations with potentially dangerous outcomes.
For more information, visit vigilancegroup.com or call 615-630-9765
To contact Moose Moore, 615-970-9450
Cole Evans, Good People Creative, http://www.goodpeoplecreative.com, 615-775-4227, [email protected]
Share this article