There have been several theft cases since this semester began. In one dormitory, two pairs of jeans and two pairs of sneakers of famous brands got missing a month ago. Recently in another dormitory, more than 200 yuan RMB was stolen. To some people, it is not a big deal, but it did cause some trouble to the school as well as the students concerned.

We made some enquiries. For example, when did she/he last see the article/money? Who was the last one to leave? Did anyone return to the dormitory during the evening self-study? Did they find anything/ anybody suspicious? But no valuable clues were found so far. And the matter is still under investigation.

Schools can’t guarantee the safety of students’ property, but we have to do something about it. I believe precaution and a sense of safety are the most important. There is one thing in common in these theft cases: all the lost articles or the money was placed casually, either on the bed or somewhere you can see once you open the wardrobe. In our school every tenant is provided with a key to the door. However, in one case, they left a key on the top bar of the door frame, just for convenience. Every dormitory building is staffed with a worker in the daytime. Still, we can’t rule out the possibility that someone from outside entered the dormitory and helped himself to things he thought valuable. One of the girl student said she saw two footprints on the windowsill at the end of the corridor. Are these cases going to be unsolved mystery? Very likely, but if we had a strong sense of security, things would be quite different.