Personal Security Alert Tips
Your Own Safety
We welcome you to Your Own Safety column of the African Sunshine Magazine (ASM).
Part 1
Crime, as we all know, is one of the formidable challenges we face today. Why? Most of the population lives in grinding poverty, which does not allow parents to live up to the blueprint for the future of their children. Young people are caught in poverty trap; frustrations are mounting over money for food or for business ventures. There is a huge disparity between what young people want and what is available to them.
We live in society where there are illegitimate and legitimate opportunities. Some have access to one than the other. And we, in the African Sunshine Magazine, believe that we are not alone in the opinion that the interlocking conjunction of these forces has united into a totality of significant problem. A small hurt in the eye is a great one, indeed. Criminal activities spring up when a certain class of society is blocked from having access to legitimate sources of economic success. And those who cannot find legitimate opportunities will seek and find illegitimate means to achieve their goals.
And what is our government policy response? While we wait for government robust policy response to correct the wrongs and then weed our streets out of criminal activities, we cannot sit on our hands. We have to continue to find ways and means to protect ourselves and stay safe.
Remember, on our introductory page, we promise to devote a monumental amount of our energy to undertaking research into sophisticated and up-to-date technologies to help our people confront the security challenges they face. In this column, we follow through on our promise by introducing you to (one of many to come) a powerful small hand-held alarm with two mechanisms – alarm and touch – you can use when you are under threat of attack.
This alarm is designed to enhance your personal safety. It is convenient and accessible whenever you need it. The siren is intended to shock, disorganise, and distract an attacker giving you an opportunity to make your escape from the scene of an incident. We do not recommend that you rely on the alarm to attract help, although the noise may cause fear of intervention and detention of others. Your priority should be to get away from the threat immediately once the alarm has been sounded.
Operation of the alarm/touch
To activate the alarm, simply pull the key ring attachment out of the alarm. This is to ensure that you do not need to leave your keys at the scene of an incident. To de-activate, replace the pin into the alarm. To operate the touch, simply press the button on the front of the alarm, release the button to stop the touch.
We advise that you should always take suitable precautions to reduce the risk of attack by doing the following: