Your parents have been sending you viral videos. Phone thefts on Oxford Street. Pickpockets on the tube. “LONDON IS SO DANGEROUS NOW!” They’re panicking about your student placement.
Here’s what those videos don’t show: they’re filmed in Central London tourist zones. Not the residential neighbourhoods where you’ll be living.
Where Those Videos Are Actually Filmed
Oxford Street, Regent Street, Westminster, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, major train stations during tourist season.
All Zone 1. All tourist hotspots where millions of visitors pass through daily, phones out, taking photos, distracted, carrying valuables, looking lost.
Pickpockets target these areas for obvious reasons. Same as around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Termini Station in Rome, Las Ramblas in Barcelona, or Times Square in New York. Every major tourist city has this problem.
Where you’ll actually live: Balham, Brixton, Clapham, Peckham. Residential family neighbourhoods in Zones 2-4. Local shops, libraries, parks. Places where Londoners actually live. Your typical day involves walking to your local station, commuting to language school, coming home to dinner with your host family. That’s residential London. Nobody makes viral videos about it because families doing their shopping isn’t dramatic content.
Why London Looks Uniquely Dangerous Online
London is one of the world’s most visited cities. Everyone has smartphones. Everyone films everything. Content gets posted in dozens of languages. And the algorithm rewards “LONDON IS DANGEROUS!” over “I lived in Balham for six months with no problems.”
You’re seeing selection bias. Millions of students live in London safely. Nobody makes TikToks about walking home from Balham station without incident.
Practical Safety Tips
Set up Find My iPhone or Find My Device before you leave. If your phone is stolen, you can track, lock, or wipe it remotely.
Consider an AirTag in your bag. Cheap insurance.
In tourist areas: use a crossbody bag, keep it in front of you in crowds, don’t use your phone while walking on busy shopping streets. Phone snatching happens when people are distracted.
On the tube during rush hour: keep bags zipped and in front of you. Don’t have your phone in your back pocket.
Basic city common sense: Don’t count cash in public. Don’t leave bags unattended in cafés. Stay aware in crowds. On nights out, stay with friends and watch your drinks.
Same precautions you’d take in Paris, Rome, or New York.
What to Show Your Parents
“Those videos are filmed in tourist areas like Oxford Street where millions of visitors go. I’m living in Balham – a residential family neighbourhood. Completely different. Like living in a Tokyo suburb versus visiting Shibuya Crossing on Saturday night. Yes, I’ll be careful when I visit tourist areas. But I’m living where Londoners raise families and commute to work.”
Show them Instagram posts from your actual area. Google street view of your street. It looks nothing like the videos.
The Bottom Line
Viral videos show dramatic incidents in tourist zones to get views and engagement. You’ll be living in residential South London following basic big-city precautions.
Will you visit Central London tourist areas occasionally? Yes. Should you be careful there? Yes. The same as any crowded tourist zone in any major city.
But your actual daily life happens in residential neighbourhoods where those videos are never filmed. Questions about safety? Email us for practical advice.
