Stranger Danger now averted

With the stranger danger situation now averted and having done all they could to warn of the danger in the midst of their community, Joshua and Mrs Taylor head back to the classroom. They meet up with Joshua’s mother on the way.  Joshua tells him mum of his frightening experience and her reaction was over whelming.  He found himself in the biggest, tightest hug of his life. Being a typical little boy, it was fine for a very short moment before he squirmed out of his mum’s grasp.

  She reminded him of the times she and the teacher had spoken of stranger danger.  Joshua replied, “I know, but you told us we could trust a policeman, and I thought he knew me because he called me by my name.”

New information is needed to empower children

Joshua’s mum and Mrs Taylor became alarmed at the  danger to children, who don’t understand the way predators use disguises to prey on a child’s obvious trust of certain categories of people in the community. They realised there was a  need to be looking at the messages they are giving children. It seemed imperative to find a different way to empower children to recognise a dangerous situation. Teaching children what is a normal situation and what is not seemed to be a good initiative. Teaching them that dangerous people look just like normal people was also an important issue.

It’s a persons behaviour, and it’s departure from what’s a normal expectation, that is the clue to who could be a dangerous person. There are many ways a predator will try to gain access to children and separate them from their familiar surroundings. It is necessary to teach children how to recognise a behaviour that is not normal within their family or culture. They need to be empowered to recognise and avoid dangerous situations in as many ways as possible.

This time there was no repercussions for Joshua, but another child may have not been so lucky. Children get bored when the same message is heard time and time again.  It is good to have a fresh approach to regain their attention when broaching this important subject.