Keeping Their Antennas Up: Violence and the Urban College Student

Because urban areas have a deserved reputation for violence, it makes sense to consider the impact of violence on the urban campus. Surprisingly, urban colleges and universities may not be unusually violent, for a combination of reasons. Urban students do risk more types of violent threats, however, than their peers at rural and suburban schools. Two groups of students–victims of violence and city phobics–have strong negative reactions to the city and urban violence. For most students, though, urban violence has more subtle effects. While students lead relatively normal college existences, they do learn to be on their guard.