Stop telling kids not to talk to strangers!

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Here's what you *really* should be telling them:

“Stop telling your kids not to talk to strangers. They might need to talk to a stranger one day. Instead, teach them which sorts of strangers are safe. You know who’s safe? A mom with kids. Period. Your kid gets separated from you at the mall? Tell her to flag down the first mom with kids she sees.”

This was fantastic advice. I have shared it with everyone who will listen, ever since.

Last month, I finally got to meet the woman who’d said this brilliant thing, when I had the enormous good fortune of attending a kid’s safety seminar led by Pattie Fitzgerald of Safely Ever After. Safely Ever After offers seminars to adults and children on the subject of “keeping kids safe from child molesters and abuse.”

source

[phkrause]

That's very interesting. My grandson talks to everyone. It does bother me, but than I think at least he's friendly to all. Not sure its that easy to figure who's safe or not.

[joeb]

I'm not so sure that not talking to strangers is advice that keeps kids away from abusers and molesters. Most kids, the vast majority of them, are molested and abused by those they know and trust. It's normally family, close friends of the family, or trusted authority figures who do the molesting.

It's true that a few kids are abducted and abused/molested by strangers, but they are the exception to the rule.

[cricket]

I think that's pretty good advice, rudywoofs. It's interesting to me how many people think I'm a safe person to ask for help--at a grocery store, a gas station, the mall--anywhere. I guess a mom with kids is a "safe bet." Without a doubt, I'd ask a mom with kids for help too if I were in a situation where I needed help.

[Bravus]

You know it had to be done...

[Bravus]

I think the advice in general is excellent, and agree.

Like anything, not 100% - Elizabeth Smart would have been a kid with the female half of her kidnapper team, Wanda Barzee, and looked like a mom with a kid, but that didn't make Wandee Barzee a safe person to approach.

But that's a much rarer example, and in general the probabilities are much better with this advice than otherwise.

The other issue, of course, is working to make our homes and churches safe...