Light Up Lynn

How often do you look over your shoulder while walking home? I can assure you it no doubt increases when the sun goes down.
Personally, I hate not knowing what is in front of me or who could be close by, but what I really detest about walking home is the vast lack of lighting around this town, just what we need as the cold, wintery nights are beginning to close in.
I frequently have to walk or bike home after I finish college at half four, when the sun has already vanished, the grey clouds cover the sky and cars have already switched on their headlights.
My parents cannot always come and pick me up so I have two walking routes home; I could take the route which includes a never ending walk up Wootton Road but cars have no respect for pedestrians, escpecially in the rain. Or take the cycle route which passes the populated Lynnsport but has no lighting along half the path which boarders North Lynn and is surrounded by bushes.
A little ruffle in the bushes is enough to make the hair stick up on the back of my neck and put me on edge until im home.
I can remember being taught at primary school about stranger danger and always being told not to go out after dark but there really is not anyway around it when it is dark at about 5pm.
Either way, it really is a lose lose situatiton, especially for me being a vunerable teenager most likely listening to music and carrying a bag full off books that slows me down to a crawl most of the way.
We have all seen the scary films, girl out alone in the dark, guys hiding in the bushes ready to pounce, girl gets attacked and usually left for dead.
In summer, time never really crosses your mind, the sky is still light around 9pm and there are plenty of people around the streets.
But now, once people are home from work, there are only groups of rowdy teenagers around which does not exactly fill me with confidence if something did happen.
But I am not the only person that does not feel safe, a national survey recently revealed that the majority of young females do not feel safe walking at night due to the lack of lighting on streets and cycle paths.
It must be a parent’s worst nightmare when their child does not answer their phone and they are half an hour later than they said they would be (my mum has given me “the lecture” many times about not answering my phone when im out) but it was around this time last year that two young men were stabbed along the cycle path between King Edward VII school and what was Park High school.
So, how can you escape the darkness? Simply, you cannot. Unless of course you only leave your house between daylight hours or stick to the rare heavily lit areas.
But that is impractical for most people, myself included.
With winter already starting to close in, I have already started planning on how to stay safe in the dark.
First on the list is start driving as soon as possible.
And second, avoid being outside alone - I know I am going to be roping in some loving friends to walk me home from now on.
Or failing all that, sweet talk my parents round to picking me up.