We d think THAT was insane. Well, she should have known better than to go to his room. Or, She was asking to get hurt by drinking so much. Often, students create their list of rules for safety or why or where violent things happen based on misconceptions of why crimes happen and who commits these crimes. Although many crimes are committed because of poverty, jealousy and anger, and although some crimes are committed in more dangerous areas, the majority of crimes are in fact committed by people we know, and in areas that we already thought were safe.
Violence occurs more often between people who know each other.
While there are risks to living in a city, any city, blaming the poor or one particular ethnic group for all the violent acts committed is racist and classist. People of all races and economic levels commit crime. Scapegoating those people is not only shortsighted thinking, but could potentially endanger you. If you re convinced that only those people will hurt you, you may not be aware of the far more substantial risks posed by the people you DO know, and who ARE like you. It is important that we recognize these misconceptions, really examine why we believed them in the first place, and where we learned how to think that way.