By DePaul Healthy Trailblazer Journal reporters | Be aware of your surroundings when you are outside, School Counselor Ms. Westfield recently told the Healthy Trailblazer Journal.

The city can be a dangerous place, she said.

There are a number of things you can do to help yourself stay safe, she said. They include:

• Walk with other people you know.
• Don’t take detours. Go straight home or to your destination.
• Contact someone when you get to your destination to let them know you have arrived.
• Run if you are being followed. Try to call or text someone to let them know what’s going on.
• Don’t wear headphones.
• Don’t linger outside a school or a store.
• Don’t talk to strangers.

Ms. Westfield said she encourages kids to keep their location on their phones so people whom they trust know where they are.

If there is a situation where a fight is happening, Ms. Westfield said, “don’t stand around watching and recording” on your phone. “Remove yourself from violent situations,” she said.

Illustration by Arely, sixth grade, Stewart M.S., 2022-23.