"If you don't want to wake up and find you have no pants to wear, you'd better put them on in sleep," goes a popular joke among students. Obviously, campus thefts have become increasingly annoying as they occur far more often than before. And it seems that the thieves are less choosy these days, with their targets ranging widely from bikes, cell phones, purses, pre-paid IC cards to sunglasses, bags, and even underwear. In short, anything that worth a dime is likely to be stolen.
What makes students the easy targets? The reasons are not hard to find. But I believe of all these reasons, the lack of anti-theft alertness is the most important. For lack of alertness, the students tend to leave the doors and windows wide open during sleep at noon or at night in summer. For the same reason, they'll also leave their bikes unlocked before a store or by a road, or forget to take away their personal stuff before they go out of the classroom to make a phone call. These acts undoubtedly have increased their exposure to the light-fingered monsters.
In order to minimize possible losses, the students must stay on guard in the first place, as awareness of the thefts around often makes a big difference. To be more specific, the students should not hide any tempting amount of cash in the dorm. Put it in the bank instead. Besides, do not leave any valuable items unattended. Take them wherever you go. In addition, it's advisable to develop a neighbourhood watch programme with other students in the dorm and neighbouring dorms.
