Sending a son or daughter to university is a proud moment.

For many young people, it is their first real experience of independence. They are living away from home, meeting new people, travelling around an unfamiliar city and making more of their own decisions.

For parents, that independence can bring mixed emotions.

You want them to enjoy university life. You don’t want to constantly check where they are or make them feel they are being watched.

But you would still like to know that if something doesn’t feel right, they have an easy way to reach someone they trust.

That is where personal safety technology can help.

Student Safety Shouldn’t Mean Surveillance

There is now technology that allows parents to continuously track the location of their children.

But is that really what young adults want when they go to university?

Probably not.

University is about developing independence and learning to make your own decisions.

We believe personal safety technology should support that independence rather than take it away.

SafeHalo has therefore been designed around a simple principle:

The young person remains in control.

They decide when they want to share their journey.

They decide when they want to share their location.

And they decide when they want to ask for help.

Most Situations Don’t Start as Emergencies

When we think about personal safety, we often imagine serious emergencies requiring the police or an ambulance.

But many situations begin much earlier.

A student might be:

• Walking home later than expected.
• Leaving the library alone at night.
• Coming home after meeting friends.
• Travelling somewhere unfamiliar.
• Waiting for transport.
• Feeling uncomfortable because someone appears to be following them.
• Simply wishing someone knew where they were.

None of these situations necessarily requires a call to 999.

But having an easy way to reach someone early can provide valuable reassurance.

SafeHalo is designed for those moments before a situation becomes an emergency.

SafeWalk: Reassurance for Everyday Journeys

SafeWalk is a free feature designed for everyday journeys.

A student can choose to share their journey and location in real time with someone they trust.

That could be a parent, brother, sister, friend or another family member.

The important difference is that the student chooses when to activate SafeWalk.

They aren’t being continuously followed.

They simply decide:

“I’d like someone to know where I am for this journey.”

When they arrive safely, they can stop sharing.

For the student, it provides reassurance.

For the person they have chosen, it provides peace of mind.

An SOS Button When They Want Help

There may also be occasions when a student wants to actively ask for help.

SafeHalo includes an SOS feature within the app.

Users can nominate up to three trusted contacts.

If they activate an SOS, those trusted contacts can be alerted and receive information designed to help them understand what is happening, including the user’s location.

Again, the important point is:

The student has chosen to ask for help.

They ask.

Their trusted people know.

And those people can respond.

What If Reaching for a Phone Isn’t Practical?

There may be situations where unlocking a phone and opening an app isn’t convenient or discreet.

SafeHalo can also work with a small Bluetooth safety button.

The button can be kept somewhere easily accessible, clipped on or worn, allowing the user to activate a help request without first navigating through their phone.

A deliberate double-click is used to activate the alert, helping reduce accidental activations while providing a quick way to request assistance.

Help Starts With People They Already Trust

One of the ideas behind SafeHalo is that help doesn’t always need to begin with a stranger.

Sometimes the person a student wants most is simply someone they know.

Their mum.

Their dad.

A brother or sister.

A flatmate.

A close friend.

SafeHalo allows the user to choose the people who form their personal safety network.

Their people. Their choice.

An Additional Layer of Support

For families who want greater reassurance, SafeHalo Premium adds 24/7 professional monitoring.

When a Premium user activates an SOS, the SafeHalo monitoring team can assess the situation and determine how best to assist.

Depending on the circumstances, that could include contacting trusted contacts, helping arrange safe transport or escalating a serious situation to the emergency services where appropriate.

The aim isn’t to replace family, friends or the emergency services.

It is to provide another layer of support when someone asks for help.

SafeHalo is not an emergency service. Where someone is in immediate danger and it is safe and possible to do so, they should always contact 999.

A Different Approach to University Safety

Technology will never remove every risk associated with living independently.

Nor should technology be used to take away a young person’s freedom.

But it can make asking for help easier.

That is the principle behind SafeHalo.

We want students to enjoy university life, build confidence, meet people, travel, socialise and become independent.

At the same time, we want them to know that if something doesn’t feel right, reaching someone they trust can be simple.

For universities, this also presents an opportunity to think differently about student safety.

Personal safety doesn’t have to begin when an emergency occurs.

It can begin much earlier.

Giving students simple tools to seek reassurance, share a journey or request help could form another part of the wider support universities already provide for student wellbeing and safety.

Independence and Reassurance Can Work Together

Parents cannot always be there.

And when children leave for university, perhaps they shouldn’t be.

Growing up means giving them the freedom to make their own choices.

But independence doesn’t have to mean isolation.

SafeHalo has been designed to give young people another way to reach the people they trust when they decide they need them.

Their independence. Their choice. Their safety net.

SafeWalk and the core SafeHalo personal safety features are available free, with no subscription required to get started.

To learn more about SafeHalo, visit the SafeHalo section of the SafeKab website.

SafeHalo — helping people reach support earlier, before a situation escalates.