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Doesn’t Anyone Teach Their Kids About Stranger Danger Anymore?
Just because it had its faults doesn’t mean we throw out the whole program
The concept of ‘Stranger Danger’ will be a familiar one if you grew up between the 1970s — 1990s, a triple-decade sandwich of moral panics about everything from Satanic Cults to fireworks. As an 80s baby with a perpetually anxious mother, I knew with great certainty that strangers were the most dangerous type of people around. During my early school years, our teachers drummed it into us that should ‘a man ever ask if we want to go and see his new puppies’ or ‘a stranger offers us sweets’ that we must say no, and run away. Much like quicksand, I felt sure that these were scenarios I would find myself in at some time during my childhood.
Thankfully, I never did experience anything like that. In my desire to heed the words of all the grown-ups around me, I went so far as to refuse to speak to fellow children my own age if I didn’t know them; even blanking a girl who tried to speak to and play with me until my mother said it would be safe. Mixed messages or what?
How times have changed
As far as I can tell, though, no one is bothering to teach their children about stranger danger anymore. I understand that the message was a weak one. After…
