30 Safety Tips Everyone Should Know, Shared By This Criminology And Psychology Graduate

11 people have died in rip currents in less than two weeks along the Gulf Coast. Let's talk about what to do if, God forbid, you find yourself in this situation.

If you get caught in one, it will pull you out to sea. Now the reason why this ends in a tragedy a lot of the time is because it's a very scary situation to be in. People panic, they hyperventilate, and they swim as hard as they can against the current. And because of this, they exhaust themselves and unfortunately drown.

Now I'm speaking from experience here, because when I was about 15 years old, I myself was actually caught in a rip current. And the only reason I knew what to do is because my dad drilled this into my head when I was very young. It's a lot easier said than done. But the first thing and the most important thing is to not panic, and never try and fight the ocean. Rip current will typically take you out to where the waves start to break. But some can take you out hundreds of yards if the conditions are right. And in the ocean, that's pretty scary.

So let's say, God forbid, you're in a rip current, what do you do? As I mentioned before, the most important thing is to stay calm, you're gonna save your energy and calmly swim parallel to shore. Once you clear the rip currents, you could then swim in a diagonal all the way back to shore. When this happened to me, where I exited the water was extremely far from where I had entered because I was able to remain calm. I was able to keep the friend that was with me calm and she and I made it back to shore safely.

Here's what to do if you get pulled over by an unmarked car. First thing, in the case that it actually is an officer, you want to make sure that they are aware that you know that you're being pulled over. A way to acknowledge them is by putting on your flashers. If you're on the highway, it's also a good idea to pull to the far right lane and drive at the speed limit so they could just follow behind you.

Now that you've acknowledged that they are behind you and you are being pulled over, you're gonna want to call 911. You'll then tell them that you're being pulled over by what looks like an unmarked car, but you want to confirm that it is in fact a police officer. They'll ask you some questions about your location and be able to confirm if it is legit or not. Now in the case that it is not legitimate, you're gonna want to drive straight to the nearest police station, and also keep 911 on the phone. In the world we live in these days, there are so many scary scams that go around. And remember that you can get a flasher and siren from Amazon.

Teaching your kids situational awareness at a young age. Something that you can do to help your kids become aware of their surroundings at a young age is play situational awareness games. When you're driving in the car as a family, start to look for a specific type of car and color. Make it fun and exciting and have your kids shout out loud when they see that type of car.

You should also play this game at hotels, restaurants, airports, you name it. But in this situation, you want them to be able to spot all of the nearest exits. You have them get into the habit of looking for them and pointing them out to you as they see them. This creates a habit at a young age and I can bet you that they will find exits for the rest of their life.

Another smart game is 'people watching'. Next time you're sitting down in a restaurant or at a park with your kid, pick somebody out and have them guess their age, their height, their weight, even have them guess their career based off of what they look like. This way, your child starts getting into the habit of observing people around them. Now as a parent myself, this is definitely a scary thought that you want your child to be able to pick out somebody and describe somebody to a T if, God forbid, they're ever in a dangerous situation. And playing games with your kids just like these will help with their situational awareness at a very early age.

You're in the elevator in the building you live in and somebody that you don't recognize asks if you live here. "No, just visiting some friends I went to college with." "No just dropping off a few things for my brother." An Uber or Lyft driver or a taxi driver drops you off at your home and asks if this is your home, "No, just visiting some family friends." "No, on my way to a surprise party or event." "I wish but no."

You're sitting and having a drink and somebody says, "What's up, girl, what you doing here alone?" "I'm just waiting for my boyfriend." "Waiting on some friends. They should be here any minute." "Waiting on my husband. He's just parking."

You recently moved to a new city and somebody asks if you're new here. "No, I used to live right down the street." "No, I used to go to school here."

And if you ever find yourself in a situation where somebody asks, "Does anybody know you're here?" Your answer 100% of the time is "yes." "Yes. My husband is on his way to meet me right now." "Yes, my friend should be here any minute." "Yes. Just waiting on the rest of my family to arrive."

Never ever tell anybody that you are alone. And as a rule of thumb, regardless of being true or not, somebody always knows where you are, even if nobody really does.

If you ever are driving and you find yourself behind one of these vehicles, switch lanes immediately and stop following this truck. My mom had a friend growing up who actually lost a family member because one of those wooden logs came dislodged and went right through her windshield.

Never give out any sensitive information on an inbound call. There are a ton of scammers out there these days that are calling pretending to be your credit card company. Only give out your information on an outbound call.

Tip number one. If anybody ever asks if you're home alone, the answer is no. Never actually open your door for anybody. Make sure to keep all windows and doors locked at all times. And if you're home alone at night, it's not a bad idea to keep lights on in random rooms throughout your house.

If you want to order food, order food through an app like Uber Eats because this way you can do a contactless delivery. And if the delivery person arrives and ring the doorbell, you just say 'thank you so much, you could leave it right there.' It's also not a bad idea to yell 'dad, food's here.'

And lastly, never feel like you have to be brave. If you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation or you just feel that something's off, call 911. It's always better to have an officer come out for a false alarm than risk being in a dangerous situation with no help on the way. Make sure to give me a follow and, as always, stay safe out there.

Always make sure that your computer cameras are covered.

Let's say somebody rear-ends you but it's pretty minor and you kind of get this gut feeling that something just doesn't seem right - it's late, it's dark, you're on a side street with not a lot of traffic - stay in your car, especially if it's drivable and everybody's safe. Stay in your car with the doors locked, and immediately get on the phone with 911. Keep your car on. Again, if it's safe, then make sure that you are ready to pull out of there if the situation would become dangerous.

And if, God forbid, it would and you do need to peel out of there, drive right to the police station. I've heard of situations where criminals go after their target by getting into a minor car accident with them, and this way, they could lure them out of their vehicle on some side street. So always be very hyper-aware of your surroundings and if you have a gut feeling that something seems off, it most likely is.

Breaking down some situations when you should absolutely lie.

So let's say you're traveling alone and a male sits next to you and asks if you're traveling alone. "No, my brother is actually sitting a few rows off and we're meeting a bunch of friends when we get to the next airport." "No, I'm actually going to visit my three brothers, they'll be picking me up at the airport."

Let's say you're waiting in the lobby of a hotel, and a man simply asks you if you're staying there. "No, actually just meeting a few friends for a drink." "I was but I'm checking out today." "I'm actually just waiting on the rest of my family to come down here."

You are in college, sitting in a Starbucks, and somebody comes up and asks you if you go to school here or what school you go to, "Actually, I just take online classes." If anybody ever asks you what hotel you're staying at, you can simply reply with the Marriott or the Hilton because those hotels are literally everywhere.

You arrive at a destination and you're waiting on your taxi or Uber but the person behind you, just for whatever reason, asks if you want to share a ride. "No, sorry, I'm actually waiting on some friends. They should be coming out any second." These are all situations where it's very smart to lie.

Here's a safety tip for all my girls. This one is as simple as it gets, but it can potentially save your life. We live in a scary world. And by implementing this simple trick, you're going to make yourself less ideal of a target, and sometimes to deter crime, it's as simple as that.

I'm sure you've heard 'there's safety in numbers' your whole life. But if you have to walk somewhere alone, here's how you're going to do it. So, first thing and arguably the most important thing is to always act like you know where you're going. Even when you don't, you want to have your guard up and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Have good posture and a strong, firm stride. You want to walk with a purpose.

And again, act like you know exactly what you're doing and exactly where you're going. If, by chance, you do need to look down at your phone for directions, or to answer a text message, you're gonna want to back yourself up against a car or a wall. That way when you do look down at your phone, nobody can approach you from behind, and you're gonna want to do this as quick and efficiently as you can.

And also if you do have to do this, make sure you're looking up every couple of seconds and don't leave your head buried in your phone for too long. In my opinion, it's really sad that I feel the need to make these videos, but unfortunately, in the world we live in, you just cannot be too cautious. Stay safe out there.

Always enable a remote wipe of your smartphone. This way, if you lose it, you could delete all sensitive material.

If your Uber/Lyft taxi driver seems sketchy, end the ride and get out of the car as soon as possible, make up any excuse that you have to. "I think I'm going to be sick, I'm about to throw up. It's an emergency, I have a stomach ache, you need to pull over right now." Or if need be, if you're at a stoplight, just unlock that door and get the hell out.

Also, it's never a bad idea to carry some form of self-defense tool with you. Now this could be something like a tactical pen, pepper spray, or mace. Another thing that I've personally done is hop on the phone with my husband and put him on speaker and tell him exactly where I am, the name of my driver, and when he can expect me to arrive. He's also been trained for years to know that if I call and say anything, that he just is supposed to go along with it.

Lastly, if you do find yourself in this situation, then make sure that you're reporting this driver, there should be no situation where a driver should make you feel uncomfortable, ever.

If you're ever at an ATM machine or you're about to swipe your credit card, always give the machine a little jiggle. Unfortunately, there is a lot of technology out there that can be used to steal your information. So it's definitely a good idea to take a good look at the machine before you use it.

What to do if there's an active shooter in your school? If that announcement ever comes on and you're in the hallway or the bathroom, the first thing you're gonna want to do is run to the nearest classroom, or if possible, out of the school. Now, with an active shooter, all doors are gonna lock almost immediately. So don't even worry about trying to get back to your specific classroom. Again, head to the nearest room. Now, if you're caught in the bathroom, and getting to a classroom isn't a possibility, here are some things you can do.

So every bathroom setup is going to be completely different. So you're going to look around and see what you have to work with. Is there a janitor's closet that locks? Is there a window that you could safely get out of? Is there an oversized trashcan that you can climb into and cover yourself with trash and hide? One of the schools that I went to had a bathroom that had a window that led to the roof and I, one day, actually tried to see if that was a possibility for me. The window did in fact open and I would have been able to climb out and hide on that roof if need be.

Remember that you're in survival mode here. So do anything and everything that you have to do to survive. Focus on what you're wearing, what's in your backpack? Is there anything that you can use that could be a doorstop? Can you add a shoe under the door to make it harder to open? Can you use your shoe strings or belt to somehow tie the door closed? Teachers, maybe it's not a bad idea to have your bathroom pass be a doorstop that works with your bathroom doors. This way, you can jam it in there and kick it in. So it makes the door almost impossible to open. If you have the ability to turn off the lights in the bathroom, always do so. But a lot of the time, they are on a sensor. So in that case, what you can do is go to one of the last stalls, open the door and don't even close it, but climb up on the toilet seat and make sure that your feet and backpack are not visible. Once in this position, stay completely still so that the lights turn off. If the shooter would open the bathroom door, you'd want the lights to then turn on and it'll look like nobody was in there. Again, it's so important to use what you have to your advantage.

There was one specific drill that I remember doing in middle school that was for a coder and or a lockdown. And after that, I took out a piece of paper and I wrote 'out of order'. I kept this in the front of my backpack with some tape. And that was to be used specifically in the case of an active shooter. You can either stick this on the outside of the bathroom door or outside of a stall, lock the door to that stall and then once again climb up and get your feet and backpack off the ground. Now a lot of things are also automatic, but in the situation that yours isn't, figure out a way to plug the sink and leave it running so that it hopefully overflows. If the shooter did come into that bathroom, it might make them think that somebody left in a hurry. But not just that. Remember, floors are slippery when wet.

Another thing that I personally did in one of my schools was see if the ceiling was a potential hiding place. Some ceilings have panels that can be removed, and then you can climb up in there. Now again, it's going to be different for every single building and every bathroom depending on how thick the ceiling material is and if it can hold your weight. But I actually did once attempt it and I was able to pancake myself, and if need be, that's where I was gonna go. Because once up there, you then replace the panel and nobody can see you. Lastly, silently call 911 and give them any helpful information. Especially if you do hear gunshots. That way, you can direct law enforcement to where the shooter might be. Remember that shots echo indoors, and it can make it very hard to pinpoint where the shooter is. As a new mom, it truly just breaks my heart to even have to think about things like this. No parent should have to.

Never overshare on social media. This means don't post in real-time and never share too much information about yourself that could potentially put you in a dangerous situation.

Reasons to lie:

You're staying at a hotel and order room service and the person that delivers the room service asks if you're staying alone. "No, my husband's in the shower."

And a little tip here, before you answer the door, turn the shower on, turn the light on, and close the door. This way, it's totally believable. "No, my boyfriend just went to grab something from the lobby. He will be back any second now." "No, my parents and brother are in the adjoining room." You are in the grocery store and somebody asks if you live in the area. "No, I'm here with my husband." "No, just in town visiting some friends."

You are sitting in a coffee shop and somebody creepy asks to sit with you. "The table's all yours. I was just leaving." "You can have the table. My husband's outside waiting for me in the parking lot. I was just leaving."

You are at the gym and somebody creepy asks for your number. "I'm flattered but I'm married. My husband's over in the weight section." "I have a boyfriend, he's right over there." And literally point to anybody.

10 safety tips for my girls going back to college:

1. Always practice situational awareness and be aware of your surroundings. Remember that a distracted person is a very easy target.

2. Always lock your doors and windows. This includes your car doors, your dorm door, you name it, and get in the habit of doing this because it's something that's very small, takes up a very short amount of time, and it could very well save your life.

3. Avoid walking alone at night, utilize campus shuttle services, and implement the buddy system. Also, always have a check-in person, this could be a friend, your mom, or a family member. Regardless of who this is, this person should hear from you every single night when you're home safe.

4. Keep your personal information private. This is especially important for social media and make sure that you're never posting in real time. This also means making sure that you never leave any packages facing label up in your car or have a lanyard with your full name on it facing up as well. Bottom line, no personal information is out in the open.

5. Invest in some personal safety gadgets, upper jaw and mace are great options as well as a personal keychain alarm.

6. Keep all your emergency contacts as well as campus security stored in your phone.

7. Never leave your drink unattended. And if that drink ever leaves your line of vision, get a new one. Also, as tempting as it might be, don't go accepting random drinks from random guys.

8. As always, be cautious and thorough when using apps like Uber and Lyft. And make damn sure that you're getting in the car that you're supposed to be getting in. Make sure that the license plate matches what it says on the app.

9. Pay attention and take note of where you could find those emergency call boxes located around campus. For whatever reason you find yourself in a situation where you no longer have a cell phone, it dies, you drop it, you break it, you want to know where these are.

10. Create a trusted community of friends. Get in the habit of communicating your whereabouts with this group of friends so that you guys can watch each other's backs and look out for one another.

Never save your home address in any GPS. A good option is to put in the address of a local CVS or gas station that's nearby.

Let's say somebody rings your doorbell or knocks on your door in the middle of the night, is it best to address a situation or act like nobody's home? Always address the situation, you never want it to seem like nobody's home, it very well might be a test to see if the home is vacant. Now with that said, never open the door either. Ever, ever, ever.

The best thing that you can do is either talk through the door or a ring camera if you have one, and immediately trust your gut. If you feel that that person is there with nefarious intentions, make it known that you've already called 911. Don't threaten to call 911, say that you've already called 911 and they should be there momentarily. Something else you could do is try and scare them off. If you're upstairs talking through a ring camera, and you do have an alarm system and this alarm is set, you want to trigger the alarm. You can do this by simply opening an upstairs window and closing it immediately. This is also a very easy way to get in touch with the authorities and let them know that you need assistance immediately.

Something else you could do is set up your car alarm. My husband and I always keep our car keys with us in our bedroom so that we can hit 'panic' if need be. And everybody knows how annoying car alarms are in the middle of the night. Noise is your friend. Now let's say you're not home but you're able to talk through your ring camera. Again, you always want to make it like somebody is there. Something else you could also do is invest in smart plugs and be able to turn on random lights throughout your house from your cell phone. And again, the most important thing you could do is call 911. You can have officers dispatched to your house even if you're not there.

Lastly, another way that you can protect your home is having motion sensor floodlights. This way, if anybody ever enters your property, you light them up quite literally. Multiple visible security cameras and home security lawn signs and window stickers are also a wonderful way to deter crime. I have some good options for everything that I've talked about linked in my Amazon store. One more thing to remember if you are planning on going out of town is always have a neighbor grab your packages and mail. A lot of the times, bad guys will do some surveillance of the home they plan on breaking into and if you have packages sitting out for multiple days at a time, they know that nobody's there.