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"Don't talk to strangers!" Having been told this over and over again as a child there is a taboo that was set up about it. It's not right obviously. As a small
by geocrasher 4y ago
"Don't talk to strangers!"
Having been told this over and over again as a child there is a taboo that was set up about it. It's not right obviously. As a small child of course it is can be dangerous to talk to strangers but it is the worst kind of fear-mongering.
That's not to say that kids don't need to be protected and that there isn't caution to be had for small children. But the blanket statement "Don't talk to strangers!" tends to stick with people just like riding the bike on the wrong side of the road so you can see cars coming, because that's what they were told to do as children. In practice though even that is quite dangerous.
Clearly these both have benefits in their context but unfortunately there is no expiration date given for them.
- solarmist 4y agoYeah, I’m literally going to teach my kids to talk to everyone. Don’t go with anyone we haven’t approved, but talk to everyone.
- j7ake 4y ago“Don’t talk to strangers” isn’t precise enough. It’s perfectly fine for kids to approach strangers and talk to them. But if a stranger approaches a kid, the kid should be on the defensive side, since it’s more likely the stranger is a bad actor. Eg : asking a stranger to help look for their lost puppy is ok. Having a stranger ask a kid to help stranger look got lost puppy is not ok, do not engage.
- solarmist 4y agoThat’s the fear, but I’m pretty sure it’s not true. Almost all crimes likes this are committed by already known people.
- xboxnolifes 4y agoThe stranger danger fear still exists to this day. Within my family, there are parents who have a fear of a van pulling up and abducting their 16+ year old children. In suburban America, where people literally keep their front doors unlocked.
- FoomFries 4y agoI think the goal is more ‘always have an exit strategy’ but for small children they can’t be expected to maintain a self awareness at all times. So the idea is to just remove the possibility entirely. Perhaps a statement of ‘don’t spend more than a few minutes talking to strangers’ or ‘don’t follow a stranger to a second location’ would be better as kids grow older.