It hard to find the right balance. We want our daughters to be confident enough in themselves to not be afraid to speak to strangers yet aware enough to keep an eye out for dangers.
Exactly.
Their basic mantra if they feel uncomfortable with someone or something is:
1. Stop
2. Get Away (by ANY means necessary)
3. Tell Someone (us, a policeman, another one of the moms in the group)
I've also been teaching my daughters to not ditch their siblings if things go wrong.
I make it a point to talk to strangers in the presence of my kids so they can see that doing so isn't a bad thing, that there's nothing wrong with chatting with the person waiting in line with you, at the neighborhood pool, dangling upsidedown from a bridge, etc...
Teaching children "Stranger Danger" is counterproductive at best. They learn it's bad to talk to strangers, and then immediately they see their parents doing what they've been teaching the kids to not do. This leads to a loss of credibility, if nothing else.
When we go out to places the DDs are responsible for ordering their own food and dealing with shopkeepers/ticket venders/performers or whoever else an adult would normally deal with.
We do this too.
Previous Topic
Index
