Helping both college students and campus police with crime-prevention is the focus of NRA’s Refuse To Be A Victim® (RTBAV) Collegiate Edition.
“Students can be empowered by learning useful tips about dorm safety and the importance of traveling in groups. How best to avoid criminal confrontation is a key component in empowering students,” said Eric Lipp, NRA national manager of Community Outreach.
Although college students can be vulnerable to theft, online stalking or assault, they can help devise personal-safety strategies to help avoid becoming victims through participation in the RTBAV Collegiate program.
The NRA offers free training for law enforcement and campus-safety personnel, which allows them to incorporate the program into their campus-preparedness efforts. The RTBAV college class, which is not a firearms or self-defense class, is about an hour long, and student materials are free.
Designed to fit into the lives of busy college students, the RTBAV focuses on topics ranging from general campus life to the dangers of sexual assault, while also addressing:
• Student housing
• Social media
• Phone and technology security
• Mental awareness and preparedness
• Cyberstalking and cyberbullying, and
• The psychology of criminal predators.
Lipp said the Collegiate Edition of the course was developed in response to years of requests from NRA instructors and communities across the nation. In fact, high schools are asking for help preparing their students for college and contacting the NRA about the RTBAV training. So far, thousands of students have taken RTBAV training sessions, and the reviews have been positive. One such example is from a recent training session held by the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia.
“The Refuse To Be A Victim Collegiate Program has been very positively received by members of our community. We are lucky to be able to offer such a well-planned and comprehensive curriculum to all in an effort to best inform and safeguard our community members within the college and university environment—while reassuring concerned parents,” said Maj. Ed O’Carroll, commander of the Major Crimes Bureau for Fairfax County Police.
“Our ability to share the impressive Refuse To Be A Victim Collegiate Program with our community has demonstrated how much we care about personal safety, awareness and prevention. Nearly every attendee shared how empowered they were after taking the collegiate class. We are thankful to be able to offer this valuable program to our community,” Maj. O’Carroll added.
To learn more about RTBAV or get information on training, visit our website at refuse.nra.org, or contact us at refuse@nrahq.org or (800) 861-1166.
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