<p>Sigh… I know theft is huge problem on college campuses but you hate to see it happen to your kid. My DS left backpack on his bed and left the door to his room unlocked when he took a shower; the door to his suite was probably unlocked as well. This morning he realized his backpack was gone with his $200 biochemistry textbook in it!!! </p>
<p>He suspects a suitemate who smokes a fair amount of dope in his room but does not want to confront him. We recommended he talk to the campus police about the theft. They probably will not do anything but they can at least log the incident into their blotter. Oh well, we will just send him the money to replace the book.</p>
<p>I’m not really asking for advice; computers, calculators and books are stolen daily on this campus. But it depresses me all the same.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that! He should also let his prof know about the theft as I imagine the replacement will take a little while to arrive and his studies might be disrupted. I hope the prof will cut him some slack! Also alert the RA, dean, etc…</p>
<p>I’m so sorry this happened. It definitely sucks.</p>
<p>I work at an urban university. Students often leave their backpacks unattended in the library while they run off to get a book, etc. If the campus police see, they put a card by the backpack telling the student how they were fortunate it wasn’t stolen & to please be more careful in the future. They just don’t think it can happen to them, but unfortunately, it does.</p>
<p>You would think it’s safe in the room, though …</p>
<p>I feel for you. Soph year (December) right before finals my son’s laptop was ripped from the connector in his off-campus room (briefly unlocked). He lost ALL his work. It was horrible. I thought he was going to just pack it in. He re-grouped, filed the police report, got some extensions (including for a 10 page paper he had just finished) and made it through the semester. Property crimes are a HUGE problem at his school (and others). I was just devastated- even though it wasn’t MY computer. Something about that happening to your kid really gets you.</p>
<p>My sympathies, yorkyfan - so sorry to hear about the theft. I hope there was nothing else vital to your son’s everyday doings in the backpack.</p>
<p>Don’t know if this is your experience (and it probably isn’t, if thefts by students are common), but kids can develop a sense of false security if they go to schools with strong honor codes, or if they form tight bonds with most of their hallmates. I remember arguing with d1 about leaving her dorm room locked at all times. She scoffed at the notion and was even insulted by the intimation that someone in her dorm might be capable of theft. Silly, I know, but she was lucky and never had anything taken at her school, which has a strongly enforced honor code. Her luck failed when she started her first professional-level job - her iPod was stolen on day 2. A tough lesson to learn. Hope your son’s book somehow turns up! Can he buy a used one?</p>
<p>Actually most colleges TELL students to lock their doors at all times…even if they are stepping out for only a short time. </p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about the OP’s kiddo’s backpack being taken. This is nothing short of a pain. I agree, report the incident to everyone who needs to hear (residence life, campus police)…OP’s kid should also let his suitemates KNOW that he is making these reports…maybe that book will “turn up”…or at the very least it will make all the suitemates more aware of the need to lock up when they are not in the room.</p>
<p>I know you didn’t ask for advice, but if he suspects a suitemate and the behavior might be repeated you might want to look at insurance. We bought a policy from this place
[CSI</a> College Student Insurance Home](<a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/]CSI”>http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/) Much cheaper than using your homeowner’s insurance since you can get a $25 deductable. Have never had a claim, so I can’t tell you how well it works, but it has been brought up before and no negative comments come up.</p>
<p>I second the idea of insurance and give CSI a thumbs up. I’m usually rather anti-insurance, but esp. for a freshman, it seemed a good idea. We have a huge deductible on homeowner’s and I would never turn in a small claim anyway. Also may be a good idea, depending on your homeowner’s, if your child is in a different state. </p>
<p>S’s cell phone mysteriously jumped into the toilet fall semester freshman year. A quick online report, a fax of the manual’s cover page, and we were promptly reimbursed the cost of a new phone less the $25 deductible.</p>
<p>Theft is a major problem at my university, too. This is why I am glad our doors automatically lock-- the only way to leave the room unlocked is if the door isn’t closed. My dad asked me what I would do if I lost all my files when my computer broke in September and I told him I’d probably have to leap in front of a bus, so he bought me an external harddrive that is hidden whenever I leave the room-- just in case. They are not cheap but I highly recommend them if you can afford it, it is such a peace of mind to know that if my backpack is stolen-- yes, it would suck to replace my computer, but at least my life hasn’t been stolen from me. </p>
<p>I also definitely agree that he should tell the suitemates he is going to file a report. We had a bunch of CDs stolen out of my mom’s car in the driveway once and I suspected my friends younger brother, I left her a message on her myspace about how the police had been called and the CDs mysteriously appeared on our porch the next day.</p>
<p>I “third” the recommendation of CSI insurance and unfortunately, my D has had to make a claim each year she’s had it, once for a camera and once for a computer. In both cases, the insurance paid out very generously and with no hassle. I could hardly believe how well it worked and it gives me great peace of mind knowing she has it. The one recommendation I would make if you use CSI is to keep your receipts as she needed those to make her claims.</p>
<p>There is some crime (theft) even on the safest of campuses. </p>
<p>My D never considered the possibility before this year. Her roomie (this year) leaves the door unlocked all the time. Their room is near a stairwell/exit. The school stresses using good judgment about safety, etc. The chatter from staff is pretty constant about it. My D is frustrated by her roommate’s inability to remember to do this simple thing and has spoken to her a few times about it. She is evidently very forgetful and has been apologetic but it hasn’t produced much change. </p>
<p>In response, my D now uses her laptop lock in her room, has lojack, and saves her major work on a USB device just in case. So far no incidents–fingers crossed. Sometimes it’s better to take precautions rather than to be forced to respond to a disaster.</p>
<p>I think dragonmom’s suggestion re insurance is a good one for anyone with concerns about this. I also recommend lojack for the laptop-it’s not very expensive.</p>
<p>And I think kids have to bear in mind that their dormroom is not their bedroom at home.</p>
<p>I had my backpack stolen in middle school during woodshop. I mysteriously got it back in the 9th grade when I was in high school. It turns out the thief went to the high school gym and dumped it there. Apparently it never crossed janitor’s mind that it good have been stolen so he just held onto it until they saw I enrolled in classes there. </p>
<p>I hope he’ll report it to the campus police. Even though it might not be recovered they may be able to determine if there’s an unusual increase in these kinds of crimes on campus or maybe even in his section of the dorms. </p>
<p>One of the worst parts he’ll need to contend with is the knowledge that one of the people he sees and maybe interacts with almost everyday might be the thief - might be a person who is otherwise friendly enough but willing to steal from his neighbors.</p>
<p>I wonder if the person will try to sell the book back to the school bookstore for cash.</p>
<p>Your son should ask if anyone has sold it back in the last few days. (Universities should record such “buy backs” - don’t know if they do).</p>
<p>BTW…there is some service college students can buy that uploads their computer files everyday (or more often if desired), so if a computer is stolen, at least all their work isn’t lost.</p>
<p>My kids frequently “email” themselves big projects/essays so they are always retrievable in cyberspace.</p>
<p>I agree about checking the buy backs at the bookstore. I had an expensive physics textbook stolen the morning of my final exam. I left it in the lounge while I showered, and when I came back it was gone. Privately, I always suspected that one of my three other hallmates who had the same class picked it up accidentally and never realized that they had two copies. We’d all been in there studying together that morning, and there were only about ten minutes when one or the other of us wasn’t in the lounge.</p>
<p>I would’ve done okay on the final even without those last few hours of studying, but I went to the bookstore to see if anyone had sold it back, and they told me that no one had brought one in that morning. But then the bookstore offered to let me borrow another copy of the book until after my final, which I thought was amazingly generous.</p>
<p>I do think the premiums are reasonable. I believe that this year the premium was in the area of $70, for $3000 of coverage, with a $50 deductible. You do have to enter the school of attendance. Don’t know if that makes any difference in premiums based on their claim experience. I bet not much. As I and the other posters noted, the claims process is unbelievably easy. Actually, we didn’t even need the receipt–just a print out of what the replacement one cost and the front page of instruction manual from the original one.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that yorkyfan - it is so depressing when things like that happen. My S had a $150 book taken after he walked away from it for a few minutes last year. After that I went ahead and bought the insurance mentioned above for both kids in college. We haven’t had to use it yet but the peace of mind is worth it.</p>