Stranger Danger

“​Stranger Danger is a very important topic that parents should discuss with their child, especially when approaching the age when being outside and the chance of encountering unfamiliar and new people can occur every day. Your child may be leaving the house for preschool, kindergarten, celebrations and other recreational activities where he or she may be alone and waiting for pick-ups to and from events.” — Dr. Annie Zimmer, Boystown Pediatrics

Everyone at some point in their early childhood was told by an adult not to talk to strangers. And that adult prayed you listened.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, you should start teaching your kids about stranger danger early, be sure to define “stranger”, tell it like it is even it scares your children and talk however you feel comfortable with your children. You want to get through to your children. “Throw out your child’s personalized backpacks, barrettes and lunch boxes. When strangers know your child’s name – your child is much more likely to trust them.” — Natasha Daniels,  AT Parenting Survival. I did this and opted at times to use my daughter’s initials.

Some other ideas to help keep your children safe…

1.    Have a family safe word that a child can use if they are in an uncomfortable situation

2.   Teach your kids to scream out, “Who are you? I don’t know you.” If they are in danger (otherwise a passerby might assume its just a kid having a tantrum

3.   Tell your kids if they are being followed by a car, to run in the opposite direction and look for a mom with kids to get help

The key is that we can’t watch our children 24/7/365, so we must teach out children to look out for themselves.