One of the most exciting parts about going to Chapman is moving out of the dorms and living in a house with your best friends without the fear of being written up or having to deal with an RD hearing. However, all this independence also comes with a lot of responsibility (we’re adults now, sorry).
Lately, so many people have either had their house broken into or knows somebody who has had their house broken into. From all the stories we’ve been hearing, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to have your personal belongings stolen. Luckily, a home break-in and burglary is pretty preventable, as long as you take the necessary precautions:
1. LOCK YOUR DOORS! This may seem super obvious, but I cannot stress it enough. About 30% of burglaries happen because of an unlocked front or back door. Even if someone is home, it doesn’t hurt to make a habit of taking the extra second (literally ONE second) to lock the door behind you.
2. Don’t forget about the windows: We often forget to lock windows right after we close them, making it easy for a break-in to happen.
3. Sliding glass doors are usually only secured by latches, meaning that they are easy to break into. Placing a wooden stick into the track of the door is a simple way to provide extra security.
4. Most break-ins happen during the day, while you and your roommates are in class or going about daily activities. There have even been stories of Chapman students having their houses watched for a couple of days in order for the burglars to know when the best time to break-in would be (yikes). Leaving loud music or the tv on during the day may trick intruders into thinking someone is actually home.
5. Leave a few lights on at night! If the house is pitch-black, an intruder will assume the house is empty. The few extra dollars on your electric bill will be well worth the price.
The moral of the story is: be careful. Basically, you want to make it difficult for robbers to break into your house. Statistics show that burglars will bypass a house if it requires too much effort to break in. Follow the precautions above and if you really want to get fancy with it, take some pointers from Macaulay Culkin’s adorable character in Home Alone.