Awareness towards muggings increases

Illustration by Antonia Pavoncelli

Phones, earphones, and fashionable shoes are very trendy, and many people want them. However, expensive items are a key appeal to muggers. People know that they attract muggers to their lives, but they still love to use them. That is the problem. Daily habits, such as taking your phone out of your pocket to reply to a chat, or even to check Schoology, could easily scar your life.

A mugging is when someone follows and forces the victim into handing over their belongings. If the victim does not comply with the person’s demands, it only takes seconds for that person to be threatened by a weapon.

Muggings aren’t necessarily on the rise; Head of Security Mr. Roi Yefet said, “ASL is within a safe neighborhood.” 

However, due to social media, people know more about them. Information moves quickly. The ASL community are more alert. 

For example, a seventh-grader and their friends, was mugged in November last year , a Friday night around 10:00 pm in the ASL area. A few boys older than the seventh-grader and their friends, approached them while they were walking home.  As one of them was aware of his surroundings, he did the right thing, by alerting his friends and they hid in a nearby KFC. However, he and his friends attracted attention by trying to take a picture of the group of people just in case something bad were to happen to them. 

Middle School Principal Mr. Peter Lutkoski said, “It is always safer to give over what you have and worry about replacing it later. You should not put your personal safety at risk.”

Mr. Yefet recommends that students “should be streetwise and keep their belongings, including their headphones, inside their bag.” He also said that it is important “to keep a low profile, walk-in groups, if you can, and always choose well-lit roads.”

ASL is surrounded by experienced security guards who as Mr. Lutkoski said, “have an excellent relationship with the police”.

In addition to this, he said, “We give all the details to the police and the police tell us if there is something we need to be aware of. ASL has an excellent CCTV around the campus that also picks up on behavior outside of the campus which the police can rely on.”

Keeping a low profile is key as Mr. Yefet and Mr. Lutkoski have said. Students should not display any item that could attract envy or put us in danger. Students were reminded during assemblies that if they found them-selves in that situation, they should not fight back. They should hand over our valuables and immediately ask for help in the nearest shop.

About Talitha Stern ('24)

News Editor 2019-20

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *