The headlines are alarming. Almost every Monday you read about a person shot in Broad Ripple, or on the east side, or near the Speedway, or the near Northside.

For the third year in a row, Marion County has had more than 200 homicides. That’s alarming.

But how safe do you feel living in this area?

“ I would say in my house I don’t feel any danger and feel safe considering I have cameras as well,” junior Brittany Flores said. “On my street it’s really not safe especially at night.”

Flores has an idea on how to help curb the crime rate.

“One way we can cut down the crime rate is for parents to keep their kids at home because half of the time it’s teenagers shooting up parties or them being the victims you never know if it could be you,” she said. “The less people that are out, the less chance of people finding somewhere to do harm or just ban guns and be on the lookout for them, that way the crime rate would definitely go down.”

Most students say they feel safe in their home environment, but they do offer suggestions on how to make the city safer.

“I do feel safe in my neighborhood but you always have that worry that something could happen to you or someone you love and it’s a big problem now,” senior Samantha Mayorquin said. “Something I would recommend is if you could prevent arguments with people cause you never know if they may be carrying a gun or something. Just be kind, it doesn’t cost anything.” 

Junior Axel Mercado is a fan of the See Something, Say Something campaign that became popular in New York City 15 years ago.

“My advice would be ‘If you see something out of the ordinary, say something’,” Mercaod said. “Don’t be afraid to speak up about it to someone you trust because half of the time you may be right. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Junior Leslie Corado says it is smart to pay attention to your surroundings.

“I feel safe in my neighborhood,” Corado said. “I don’t feel uncomfortable or scared and nothing really happens but some piece of advice I give is just to be careful/

“I know it’s very simple and maybe sometimes hard to do because of the circumstances you are in but always be safe with some defense tool, having your location on, letting people know you are okay it’s takes a simple text to get the certainty of other people knowing you’re okay.”

Junior Halie Rider agrees.

“If you get that feeling even the slightest feeling that something will happen don’t go out and we see articles dying and people overlook them and think “oh that won’t happen to me” it will and it could, never take things lightly or for granted,” Rider said.

Sophomore Jonathan Villatoro has heard gunshots in his neighborhood before but still feels relatively safe.

“Sometimes some things would happen in my neighborhood like a gunshot I hear sometimes but not all the time rarely at all,” he said. “But I would say I feel safe but maybe some people around there couldn’t say the same thing. I would say ban guns or just make sure people have a gun license and their record checked or just ban them all together for us civilians.” 

Janay Simpson also agrees that is is important to pay attention.

“I feel safe around my neighborhood but sometimes I am self aware around my surroundings because you don’t know what can happen,” Simpson said. “Some advice is to stop violence and think about others not only just physically but mentally. Thinking about yourself isn’t going to better me as a person if I choose violence? Is this gonna make my mental health And my mind better?”