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A good way to teach your child/ren about stranger danger is through role play. When my first child was about to start school I used role play for this. I turned away from my daughter and put a scarf around my head, telling that, when I turned back around, I would
not be mummy, but a stranger. The scenarios I used were:
"Hi there! Would you like a lolly?"
"Hello, I'm a police officer and mummy told me to take you home."
"Can you help me? I've lost my dog, can you help me look for it."
These are a few of the ways children are lured. After saying each of these phrases, my daughter had to tell me what she would say or do. She did well, but the police one she said she would go with the 'officer'. This was a worry. I told her that no matter what anyone says, even if they try to say they are a police officer, do not go with them. I told her to only ever go with my friends, and I named who she can go with.
I know I taught her well because one day, a couple of years back, she was walking home (with my son) when a woman I knew from the kids school offered them a lift to which my daughter declined. Although she was a friend from the school, my daughter did not know her well and I had never mentioned her to my daughter so she played it safe. I was proud of her, and told her it was OK to accept lifts from her.
I'm lucky that my kids school is close, and the route they take is always very busy with other kids and parents walking the same way, but I tell them you can never be too careful!
Another thing I will add is this - if your children take short cuts through small lanes, etc, stop them! From my street to my kids school there is a 'back way' through a couple of lanes, which run between houses, bordered by high fences. A woman who used to live in my street let her kids walk on their own through these lanes. One day her daughter, who was in year 5 at the time, was attacked by a man. He grabbed her and started running his hands up her dress. The girl whacked him with her bag, dropped the bag, and ran home. She was very lucky to have been able to do that! She had a friend with her, too, so the saying 'safety in numbers' does not always help.
** I just want to add - yes, it is very confusing for children when they are told to trust a police officer, which they should be able to do. I've explained to my kids that, in a case such as a police officer just asking them to go with them out of the blue, then not to. I said that, if there was a case were the kids did have to be legitimately (though it's not likely to happen), then they would be called into the school office first. I've also said that if they get lost then, yes, find a police officer. It is a sickening thought that predators do pose as trusted people such as police.
(November 2006) (
