There are few people today who don't have a cell phone - one of the reasons you should be suspicious if anyone ever asks you for the time - and yet often the way we use them, severely compromises our personal safety. Below are answers to some of the questions that I get asked at seminars and training events, concerning mobile phones, along with observations I have made regarding cell phone use. 

One of the biggest misconceptions that people have about being on the phone, is that they won't be targeted by predatory individuals, because the person on the other end of the line knows where they are, and so should they be assaulted can call the police, . In real life, violence happens extremely fast, and to believe that the person you are talking to, will be decisive enough to immediately hang up on you (in the event of an attack), phone 911, and then that the police will be able to get to your precise location before the assault is over, is extremely unlikely. A person on a phone is a distracted person, who is less likely to notice and/or question things and people that are out of place in their environment. Violent criminals know that their assaults take seconds, and that the best victim is an unaware one. Also, if your phone is an expensive one, you are advertising yourself to be someone who has things - even if it is just the phone - worth taking. 

A tactic I have heard some people say they employ, when they believe that somebody in their environment has targeted them, is to pretend they have just received a call, so that whoever has shown an interest in them will not be able to engage them in conversation, as they are already talking to somebody else. If we are honest, we probably don't really believe that muggers and rapists etc. are so polite that they won't confront us because we are on a phone call with somebody else; and if we are totally honest we should probably admit that this tactic, is akin to an ostrich putting its head in the sand i.e. if we just close our eyes the person will no longer be there. When we engage in such acts we give a clear signal to any predator that we are trying to avoid an interaction and a potential conflict with them at any cost i.e. we are behaving like a victim. We do not want to appear challenging to those individuals who have targeted us as potential victims, but neither do we want to confirm to them that we have matched their profile. 

One of the things I notice a lot in parking lots, is the way that many shoppers immediately after loading their car, sit in the driver's seat and check texts and messages before putting on their seat belt and/or starting their engine - my guess is that they haven't even bothered to put the central locking on. As I have written before parking lots are popular locations for a variety of criminals, and are not a good place to be hanging around in, especially with your head down looking at a screen. If there are potentially important messages to respond to these are best done in the store, rather than in your car. 

Mobile phones can enhance your safety e.g. if you have the phone number of a reputable and trusted 24 hour taxi cab company etc. however they can also be a distraction that takes our attention away from what is going on in our environment. Whilst it may be comforting to talk to a friend or a family member whilst you are in a potentially frightening situation, such as walking home late at night, they will be pretty ineffective in helping you, should you be attacked - relying on someone else to ensure your survival is also not a good mental state to be in. At the end of the day, no predatory individual will cross you off their victim selection list because you are on the phone, and this in itself is a good enough reason to avoid being on it, when your attention is required elsewhere.