http://www.mypreciouskid.com/blog/2009/06/teaching-your-child-about-strangers/ Child Safety Blog Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:18:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.mypreciouskid.com/blog/2009/06/teaching-your-child-about-strangers/comment-page-1/#comment-92 Kim Estes Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:54:07 +0000 http://www.mypreciouskid.com/blog/?p=125#comment-92 The most recent research has shown that teaching "Stranger Danger" to children is not effective in keeping children safe from danger. Stranger abduction is rare and most crimes (93%) committed against children are done by someone known to the child and their family and not by a stranger at all. Parents and other safe adults are responsible for the safety of children and teaching them to follow safety rules and to listen to their instincts. Children should always have a safe grown up with them if they do want to talk to someone they do not know and no child should get into a car or accept gifts from someone, even if they know them, without checking with their safe grown up first. Instead of teaching stranger danger, teaching kids about "Tricky People" is a simpler concept that kids embrace and is easy to understand. A "Tricky Person" is ANYONE who tries to get them to break a SAFETY RULE... and a "Tricky Person" can be a someone they know alot, a little or not at all. A "Tricky Person" can also be an adult or another child. A lost child needs to know how to reach out to a safe adult (eg. a safe mom with kids) and ask for help. If we teach children to be afraid of strangers, we are elimimating potential sources for help for our kids and we are also teaching them that only strangers pose potential danger. The most recent research has shown that teaching “Stranger Danger” to children is not effective in keeping children safe from danger. Stranger abduction is rare and most crimes (93%) committed against children are done by someone known to the child and their family and not by a stranger at all. Parents and other safe adults are responsible for the safety of children and teaching them to follow safety rules and to listen to their instincts. Children should always have a safe grown up with them if they do want to talk to someone they do not know and no child should get into a car or accept gifts from someone, even if they know them, without checking with their safe grown up first. Instead of teaching stranger danger, teaching kids about “Tricky People” is a simpler concept that kids embrace and is easy to understand. A “Tricky Person” is ANYONE who tries to get them to break a SAFETY RULE… and a “Tricky Person” can be a someone they know alot, a little or not at all. A “Tricky Person” can also be an adult or another child. A lost child needs to know how to reach out to a safe adult (eg. a safe mom with kids) and ask for help. If we teach children to be afraid of strangers, we are elimimating potential sources for help for our kids and we are also teaching them that only strangers pose potential danger.

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