I rented the video "The Safe Side: Stranger Safety" last week from the library and I was really impressed with the way that they address strangers without making it too scary. It was exactly what I was looking for. The main message is that just by looking at someone, we can't tell whether they want to help or hurt us. The host of the show "Safe Side Super Chick" (who Jacob thought was hilarious) encourages parents and kids to categorize people into three groups.
- Safe-Side Adult: Immediate family or someone your parents tell you is safe. She asks parents to make a list of three adults in this category. Those adults are the only people that can pick them up, etc. It reminded me of the password method when I was little. Same idea.
- Don't Know: Someone you don't know .
- Kinda Know: Someone you know, but is not your "Safe-Side Adult." like a teacher, doctor, coach, mom's friend, dad's friend, etc.
I am curious to know how you have approached stranger safety with your kids and what has worked?
3 comments:
Personally, I think that the earlier the better. They may not fully understand it, but the foundation is there. It is so scary that there are so many children abducted every day, and I don't think we can be too careful these days! Actually, it would be interesting to see if toddlers started watching it, if they were less likely to run off where there are tons of strangers you "don't know." I refuse to go out in public by myself with Tye and Kenadie because I am so afraid of Tye running off, so that would be an interesting experiment!
I agree with Alisa, the younger you start discussing stranger safety, the better. I've heard of this video, but I haven't seen it myself. I was told that it was really great about teaching without terrifying kids. It seems like it's such a fine line between making them aware of danger without making them so afraid that they don't want to go anywhere.
I agree with all of you guys. Sara, thanks for posting this. I'm going to have to look into this. It is scary to have think that we're going to have to break our child's innocent little world to tell them about the real dangers out there. The earlier the better though-things happen to kids of all ages.
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