Best Personal Safety Devices for College Students and Why You Should Use Them

Table of contents:

• The current security situation on college campuses
• Personal safety devices for college students and safety apps

For many people, college has been the best time of their lives. The sense of the first real freedom it brings explains why. You no longer have to be under the control of your parents, return home by 10 pm and live in an isolated room with your laptop, trying to show your autonomy to those around you. In college, you can finally concentrate on your dream job, develop your skills, start a hobby or build relationships. You are the only one in control of your life from now on.

Unfortunately, the more freedom you have, the more responsibility lies on your shoulders. In most cases, parents are far away and can't support you as they did in school, you have to make a living off something or at least try to earn some pocket money, and most importantly, you have to take care of your safety, especially if you are a young lady.

The current security situation on college campuses

You may think that in 2022 safety is the last thing you should care about, but the statistics prove you are wrong. According to NCES, 28,500 criminal incidents against people or property were reported on US college campuses. According to statistics, every 500th student was assaulted or harassed, and we still have numerous crimes never reported to the police and security agencies.

43% of all criminal incidents were forcible sex offenses. According to RAINN, one in six women in the US has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape. Those are terrifying numbers that show that female students are even in greater danger.

Personal safety devices for college students and safety apps

We've already written about essential security tips that can come in handy for each college student. This article will analyze the ultimate and most reliable option: personal safety devices for college students. You can probably take care of your physical safety by purchasing a pepper spray, tactical flashlight, or stun gun. But let's be honest here, they are illegal in many countries and states. Offensive security tools can cause trouble with your college administration, and you won't always have them in your pocket. Besides, you have to be qualified enough to use them effectively.

What are alternative personal safety devices for college students? Well, there are plenty of them:

1. Personal alert systems

Among personal safety devices for college students, alert systems are probably the most advanced but the least convenient option. It is mainly suitable for people with health issues and thus has medical usage. Usually, it is a portable device accompanied by a small monitoring box. It connects you to an emergency response center, reminds you about your meds, and may even play media files. These devices have a help button and extensive coverage.

Most providers of personal alert systems offer a subscription payment method, starting from 30 USD per month. Some of such gadgets can be easily named as the best personal safety devices for college students with ill health.

For instance, GetSafe Medical Alert System has broad cellular coverage for monitoring user activity in a wide range. It's the easiest to set up and use out of the different systems, and you can always connect to the company's call center, which works 24/7 if you have any issues.

Medical Guardian MGMove Smartwatch is the most convenient among medical personal safety devices for college students. It is a watch that doesn't need an additional monitoring system and is always by your side. It performs many fitness tracker functions while having a caregiver app and fast response based on the panic button usage.

You can also consider WellBe Medical Alert Plus as one of the best personal safety devices for college students. It's pretty pricey, starting from 159 USD on Amazon, and requires a subscription, but it has all the necessary personal security options. WellBE has accurate GPS tracking, a convenient mobile app, and good response time while providing smartwatch features.

2. Personal alarms

Compared to other personal safety devices for college students, alarms are cheap, convenient, and easy to use. It is a little panic button you can wear as a bracelet or keychain to trigger a 120-decibel rave party which won't leave anyone in the range of 300 m indifferent.

If you have such a device, you can click the panic button when, for example, someone is trying to attack you. It will attract the attention of passersby and may save your life.

Among physical portable self-defense options, personal alarms are a must-have. You can attach them to your keys and forget about their existence until you are in danger. You can easily afford one for 5-10 USD, which is an excellent deal for your physical safety.

3. Apps for personal safety

We consider mobile apps the best personal safety devices for college students. You don't need to buy them separately or carry them with you all the time. Moreover, it takes a minute to install, configure, and start using personal safety apps.

Your phone loyally waits for you in your pocket, fully charged and protected as any college student nowadays needs it not only for personal security. Modern mobile devices can connect to LTE as well as Wi-Fi. They have accurate GPS tracking systems and offer various personal security options.

Here are the personal safety apps you may want to try:

• bSafe 

bSafe adds a red panic button to your phone. Once you press it, the app turns on a siren and video recording. Your phone may also initiate emergency calls depending on your previous setting. For instance, your phone may automatically alert 911 about your GPS location. It may sound like a great deal, but on the contrary, bSafe is glitchy, its UI is outdated, and the location may be lost due to bugs. Yet it's still a good option if you can afford Premium.

• Google Personal Safety

In terms of free products, Google never disappoints its users. Google Personal Safety gives you almost everything needed from personal safety devices for college students. It has a GPS tracker and a panic button. It can detect whether you are in a car crash, has an intuitive UI, and is 100% free.

Unfortunately, just like bSafe, it doesn't always work correctly. Google and iOS stores are full of negative reviews that complain about false alarms, random 911 calls, and constant car crash alerts. You can still have a pleasant experience using it, but just like we've described in our parental control apps article, Google apps are the best when combined with a paid option.

• AllsWell Alert

The AllsWell Alert personal safety app is probably a perfect balance of price and functionality.

How does it work? AllsWell supports a panic button and a unique feature called inactivity monitoring. Depending on the situation and safety risks, you can activate panic alerts with the button, or the app will send them automatically after the specified inactivity period. All you need is to set up BED/WAKE time as well as INACTIVE PERIOD to instruct the app when to notify contacts about a possible emergency. These can be your parents, 911, or college security. You don't even need to press a button – the system will trigger alerts on its own.

AllsWell Alert has accurate GPS tracking and stable performance. The convenient UI, panic button, international coverage, advanced data encryption, and easy setup make AllsWell Alert one of the best personal safety devices for college students. The subscription payment is only 10 USD per month, and you can cancel it anytime. 

AllsWell Alert app is available both on Android and iOS devices and has a 30-day trial period you should try now.