As much as I feel apprehensive about teaching my soon to be three year old about the dangers of a stranger and how to protect herself from dangerous situations and people, I feel this will go a long way in providing survival skills to deal with it more confidently and with strength.
Just as the same way we teach our children against possible hazards of fire or heat or safely crossing a road helps them understand avoid unpleasant experiences at a very young age.
Nevertheless, I don't want to scare my child that every stranger is bad and would harm her, but I need to teach her dangerous behaviour and equipping her with skills that may potentially save her life.
I am trying to introduce the concept of stranger to my child, who he or she is, what to do if he or she approches her, tries to woo her with candies or any thing else, try to take her away when mommy is busy elsewhere, or tries to touch her body and what she could do in such unexpected situations.
Although it seems like a complicated advice to a three year old, but they can amaze you with their understanding and implementation. I discovered it today when a stranger in a bus was trying to offer something to her and her immediate reaction was looking at me as if looking for an answer. In split seconds, she declined the offer by the stranger in polite yet firm 'NO'. Well, I must say I wanted to pat her there and then. I felt tiny winy success in giving her the tools to protect herself when I am not around.
Although I have started to warn her about possible stranger dangers, the sad yet the real part is, children are more likely to be victimised by the acquaintainces rather than the strangers.Nearly all predators engage in picking, cuddling, hugging, patting etc. The predator does that in front of parents giving a signal to children that it is right and they approve of it.
The abusers are not just strangers lurking in the dark. They are family, friends, neighbors, people involved in community organisations with access to children.
As parents, it is our duty to teach our child possible ways to escape dangerous situations and people . But not always our children will be able to do so. For those times, they need you.
Be careful in choosing your friends, leaving your kids with them, intentions of your acquaintainces, maintaining your privacy and space and arm yourself with tools to ensure we are doing the most we can do most to prevent our children from being victims
