I’ve currently been awake since 4:30 this morning unable to sleep.
I took my son to his new university accommodation on Saturday, over 4 hours away.
He messaged me yesterday morning saying he’d broken his phone along with a picture of his bruised and bloody face. Told me he got drunk and fell over.
I have since found out from his older brother that he was attacked whilst alone and drunk and I’m in absolute bits.
I know he probably lied in order for me not to worry but now I’m absolutely petrified for him.
We live in a tiny rural village and he’s probably led quite a sheltered life compared to someone from a big city. I just want to help him and keep him safe.
I’ve bought my 3 kids up on my own for the past 11 years and have no support so I’m going out of my mind with worry.
How do I deal with this? Anyone been through anything similar?
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
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Son attacked on his first night at Uni
SallCymru · 19/09/2022 07:04
stillvicarinatutu · 19/09/2022 07:22
Has he told anyone and reported to police ? He needs to
SandcastleQueen · 19/09/2022 07:29
Your poor son, people really can be shit. But hopefully he's also met some good people in his new accomm who will help cheer him up.
My old martial arts instructor was a really sweet, unassuming country lad, similar happened to him in that he got jumped by 5 men one night walking back to uni. He dealt with it by learning martial arts and getting his black belt in very short order- still remained the same quiet, peaceful guy but could definitely look after himself if needed! It's not for everyone but perhaps learning some self defence skills would help your son, it's about situational awareness as much as anything.
Novum · 19/09/2022 07:44
How did he text you with a broken phone?
UghNoTime · 19/09/2022 07:47
How worrying but it will probably make him more cautious in future. Does he take drugs or do you think it's drink only? Does he need a cheap phone for when he goes clubbing? Less likely to be robbed.
Oblomov22 · 19/09/2022 07:51
Firstly I'm very sorry to hear this. I'm about to drop ds1 at university this week and this is simply not what you want after dropping any child at university. you want them to be happy and settled.
You need more info. Where did he go, was he jumped? By a single person or many? On the Uni campus or off? Thus it is probably a crime so needs reporting.
We want our kids to be safe anywhere and he should be, he shouldn't need to worry about being attacked. But also as a protection for himself issue why was he alone, he should walk back to his student accommodation with others. (Yes I know he shouldn't have to, but for now it's probably best).
So sad to hear such a bad start.
IncompleteSenten · 19/09/2022 07:49
Poor chap. That would have been terrifying
Did they mug him?
bigdecisionstomake · 19/09/2022 07:56
Sending you big hugs, you must be really worried. I work in student accommodation and we offer all of our newly arrived students advice on keeping themselves safe. All the sensible things like trying to stay with others after dark or if they've been drinking, not having expensive items like phones on show when walking home, making sure someone else knows where they are/where they're going/who they're with etc...
I know it's not any comfort at this point, but in my experience assaults on students are really rare if they take sensible precautions so I suspect he's just been really unlucky.
If he hasn't already reported it he needs to call 101 and also there should be a student welfare officer he can report it to at the University. If nothing else this will help the University see if there is a pattern and they usually have good links with local police/PCSOs who can target patrols in certain areas become problematic.
JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 19/09/2022 07:58
So sorry to hear this op. Its hard enough him being away from home but for this to happen is awful. I feel sorry for young lads sometimes with the violence and expectation to be tough guys
SallCymru · 19/09/2022 08:04
He said he still had his money on him and the broken phone. But seeing as he hasn’t told me the truth about what really happened, I’ll be having a proper conversation with him when he wakes up.
IncompleteSenten · 19/09/2022 07:49
Poor chap. That would have been terrifying
Did they mug him?
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