With large campus events like Homecoming and holidays like Halloween, it can be easy to forget what you know about protecting yourself and keeping your body healthy. Here are three tips to help remember these things and to have a fun and safe Halloween and Homecoming weekend.

Don’t drink and drive

You hear it very often and around every holiday, but this is number one for staying safe at any large event. If you drink, drink responsibly and don’t drive. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, everyday approximately 28 people die in the U.S. because of drunk driving. 

And this is worse at night—according to the National Safety Council, drunk and impaired drivers are most frequently on the road from the hours of 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. Keep this in mind if you attend late-night Halloween or Homecoming events that you know will be serving alcohol.

It’s important to know not to drink and drive yourself, but it’s also important to make sure your friends don’t drink and drive either. As a group, there should always be a designated driver so that the risk of drunk driving is zero. Even if you think you can handle your alcohol, buzzed driving is still drunk driving and can lead to these same fatalities.

Stay with a group

Going to events with a group is another highly recommended safety strategy. Make sure that your friends know if you’re leaving the event or going back with someone else that you don’t know. 

Walking alone at night may be inevitable however—sometimes a group will end up leaving at different times or with different people. If you’re on campus, a resource to use in this case are the blue light emergency towers, which will send a police escort to your location.

Even if you feel like you don’t need it, using these escorts or staying with a group of friends can keep you safe. In the extreme case that you do end up walking alone, try to make sure that someone knows where you’re going, you know the route you’re taking and you’re aware of your surroundings.

Know your boundaries

If you don’t want to drink, you shouldn’t be forced to. If you aren’t interested in someone you meet, you are not required to reciprocate their romantic or sexual advances. It’s so important to keep personal boundaries when it comes to protecting your safety and health, because only you can know how exactly to keep your body safe.

According to psychologytoday.com, one of the most important factors in setting healthy boundaries is learning to say no. For example, if you’re tailgating this Saturday and you think you’ve drank too much, but your friend offers you another drink, it’s vital that you know it’s okay to say no when you know the drink will impact your health or safety.

All of these things can be done while still having fun and enjoying yourself. Protecting your health and keeping you and your friends safe is the most important part of this weekend. 

News reporter Alexandria Anderson can be reached at [email protected].