Stranger Danger

Teach your kids about tough situations and keep them safe. One of the trickiest safety concerns for parents is the issue of dealing with strangers. There is a fine balance between addressing the topic and making your child paranoid and scared of everyone they don’t know.  There are ways to go about the topic that will help your child understand the idea of stranger danger without making them scared of the world.

As a preschooler, your child doesn’t need to know all the graphic details of the horrifying things that can happen if they are abducted by a stranger.  Your worst fear should not become their worst fear.  The good news is, you don’t need to scare your kid to keep them safe.  They just need to know this rule: You (or whoever is entrusted with his care) need to know where he is at every moment.  The simplicity of this statement is what makes it so helpful.  It’s also something they can relate to because they probably want to know where you are at all times too.  It makes sense to them.  Make sure to convey that this rule is absolute and unbreakable. 

“Never talk to strangers” can be a problematic lesson to teach.  For one thing this advice isn’t practical, for another it’s a little paranoid.  To your child, virtually everyone she meets is a stranger, at least at first: day-care providers and teachers, babysitters, the grocery store clerk, the bank teller, doctors and nurses and dentists, the mail carrier, even police officers.  Most of them are probably friendly and kindly disposed toward children. "Never" is too extreme. If you're there, your child is safe talking to almost anyone. And if you're not there, if you've somehow become separated, then your child will need help from a stranger.

Make it clear as to what a stranger is and what they are not.  A stranger is not merely someone your child doesn't know (because your child doesn't know many people, including most of your friends).  A stranger isn’t someone who looks strange or mean (because many strangers look nice and normal).  Lastly a stranger is not someone who doesn't know your child's name (because strangers may overhear her name).

A stranger is anyone to whom your child has not been introduced by you (or your child's day-care provider, preschool teacher, or caregiver). After a responsible adult has introduced someone, that person is no longer a stranger.

If your child is lost or separated from you, he will have no choice but to ask strangers for help.  The best thing to do is rehearse this situation so your child knows what to do.  Teach him that when he absolutely must approach a stranger to ask for help, he should first look for uniforms. Your three- or four-year-old can probably tell the difference between a uniform and regular clothes. So your child should seek out someone in uniform: a police officer, a store security guard, a cashier, a waiter. This is the person to talk to if he's lost.


Another simple rule to teach is never, ever go anywhere with a stranger (or for that matter, with a relative or friend) unless the people she knows and trusts best—that is, you or another of her caregivers—says it's okay.

Source: life.familyeducation.com