Talk To Your Child About Strangers

Talk to your child about strangers. When I talk to older people, I can’t get over the fact on how much they loved and enjoyed their neighborhoods when they were children.

They rave about how children could play up and down the streets without worrying about strangers. They rave about how children could ride their bikes, play with neighborhood friends, and spend time outside without a care in the world.

But now, those times have really changed. And if you ask an older person today, they often wish things could still be the same. But it is 2020, and there are so many questionable things going on in our world today.

As we change with the times, we as parents must think of the safety of our children. We have to prepare them on how to stay safe when they are approached by a stranger.

One way in which this can be done is to role play and discuss. Talk to your child about what a stranger is, what a stranger may look like, and what a stranger might say. Teach your child how to avoid them and how to call for help.

To role play, you the parent can dress up as a stranger and find their favorite toy or item around the house. Pretend to drive around and get out of a huge van. Tell your child that you know their parents and their names. Tell them that their parent called you to come and pick them up and to give them a special toy. See how your child responds. If they do not respond in the way you would like them to, then you must re-teach and teach them a proper way to handle the stranger encounter.

Sometimes strangers will pretend to know the parents. With the internet today, they can look up all sorts of information. Teach them how to respond to that scenario. Even if a stranger knows a child’s family member, that does not mean your child should go with them.

There are a few other important things to remember when teaching your child your plan on responding to strangers. Teach them to remember details. The color of clothing and facial details. If they can get away from a stranger, they can alert the police with that information.

You could practice dressing up and then taking everything off. When you get to the question session, see if they can remember what you had on.

We want safety for our children and to make sure that happens we must continue to practice on the things that can help them the most.

Try this activity and see how they respond. Like my boys, they will probably view it as a game. It will probably feel that way, but they will definitely be learning at the same time.

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