Kudos to the many people involved with Safety Week, taking place in the Eastway Center Caf‚ all week long.

Kent State is working to make sure the most important safety issues do not go unnoticed by the student body. Safety Week gives students the opportunity to receive some important lessons in safety, personalized just for us as college students.

Fire safety, food safety, Internet safety, personal safety, elevator and electrical safety all hold significance for the average college student. Whether we know it or not, some common sense safety issues tend to fly under the radar.

Most of the content of each session seems to focus on common sense – which is a very good thing. Many college students are extremely busy, and our minds tend to wander inexplicably from one topic to another. Sometimes, the mundane tasks we all take part in on a daily basis get lost in the shuffle of much more important aspects of college life, such as homework and studying.

Proper precaution against an accidental fire sometimes is forgotten. Taking the time to suitably disinfect a kitchen counter before preparing food can be an afterthought. Leaving a campus computer while logged into FlashLine happens from time to time. Walking alone at night is sometimes unavoidable. When you’re already late for class, worrying about whether the curling iron is distanced properly from the bathroom sink isn’t at the front of your mind.

For the aforementioned reasons, along with countless others, Safety Week provides a great service to students.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Safety Week programming schedule is what is on today’s agenda – Internet Safety.

In today’s plugged-in world, taking the proper safeguards against the numerous threats on the Internet is paramount. Whether it involves social networking sites or your banking information, using good common sense is a great start when applying safety standards in the online world.

This type of forward thinking is what makes Kent State one of the premier centers for higher education. Adding digital music provider Ruckus to the scene was a great boon for students. Instead of the university simply telling students to stop downloading music entirely, they provided an alternative. Correction – a free alternative. The next step is to protect the investment. Safety Week is doing just that by providing the safety tips necessary to ensure the overall health of the Kent State online community.

Safety Week is also covering a hot topic on campus within their Personal Safety session tomorrow – self-defense. Kent State is showing great resolve by tackling this issue head-on with free instruction, including physical and verbal defense strategies. Everyone could use a little instruction on how to properly handle potentially volatile situations.

It is easy for campus programming to be fun and exciting. Everyone loves live music and free food. Those types of events are arguably the most popular on our campus on a regular basis. The most important campus programming, however, sometimes goes unnoticed. Safety Week is a proactive idea, designed to provide a useful service to students.

You’re in college to further your education. Why not brush up on your common sense skills too?

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.