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Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture
Stranger Danger?

Would your children / junior students walk off with a stranger? An experiment conducted by British TV suggests that, even when taught not to, that the majority of children would. Sobering viewing for all parents and instructors:

http://www.itv.com/daybreak/family/stranger-danger-day-one/

All the best,

Iain

jeffc
jeffc's picture

I suppose that nobody really knows until the situation arises for real.  All that can be done as parents and instructors is to repetatively drill into the child about the danger that strangers can pose and hope that when the situation arises they remember this and keep themselves safe.  I know personally of a recent case where a young 5 year old child was beckoned over to a car and was stopped from going in by a 12 year old boy who knew neither the child or the person driving the car, but recognised the situation for what it was, an attempted abduction.  The 12 year old then looked after the young child until the police arrived.  This is a good example of not only looking out for yourself, but also protecting other people from predators through awareness.

A more sobering thought is that children are considerably more likely to be assaulted and/or abused by someone who is known to them either as direct family, extended family or a family friend, particularly through grooming etc, and they could believe that this person would not harm them because they are not a "stranger" to them.