Teaching Stranger Safety

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2007
Teaching Stranger Safety
2
Tue, 03-11-2008 - 10:50pm

Hello,


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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 03-11-2008 - 11:37pm

Hi Nikki,

It may not be true or politically correct, but I tell my kids what my mom told me:

That they take kids away to work in the mines. They need little bodies to fit down those shafts, and the kids never see their families or daylight again.

And they don't get paid, they don't get time off except to sleep a little bit. There is no videogames or home comforts, they will have to eat liver and lima beans for every meal and yes; it's illegal (my son is big on "illegal" and "breaking the law" so the mere thought that a stranger might be a criminal -even a speeder would send him running for a teacher!).

I feel bad, but sometimes you just have to know which button to push. Your son's buttons might be different than mine, but find one and use it. It is way better to push a few than to take any chances with his safety.

There is a really good program run by (I think) The Megan's Law people who deal with stranger danger and a lot of stuff, btu a lot of it is directed at adults and typically developing kids.

I have not looked into the John whatsisface program -the one by the NCMEC Program, but I have been meaning to.

I hope this helps.

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Avatar for toryanna
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 03-12-2008 - 7:22am

I hate to say it, but I'm with Paula on this one. I know it's not pc but I scared my son when he was little to the point he won't even think about going with someone he doesn't know. It started with running out in the street. Mind you, this was before we knew about the ASD diagnosis. I took his favorite toy and ran it over with our truck to show him that could happen to him if he kept running out in the street. After that, he decided to stop. When I realized that talking didn't work, we had to scare him, we did the same thing with strangers. We had people ( friend of DH's from work) approach him at our park when Mommy "wasn't looking" ( I was so looking but we were playing) and tested him on what he'd do after we had told him. Out of 3 times, two of them he managed to either make it to me or scream but the first one, he just went along with the guy. When I saw him "leaving" I ran up to him and told him NEVER leave without Mommy, that I would be scared and upset that he left me alone at the park. Then we discussed it again and tried again. After that, he understood, If I run off with someone I don't know, I'll hurt Mommy, so he worked on his screams and yelling Stranger. Of course this backfired on me one day when he was mad at me. He got mad and decided to tell the MPs ( Military Police) I wasn't his Mommy, that I was a stranger. Yeah, that was not a fun day LOL but the MPs told me that I had done a good job on teaching him stranger danger. Just my two cents.


Alexis