Instead of walking kids to school,

[LAS14]

teach them, from day 1

- Stay far away from a car that stops to ask a question.

- If someone gets out of a car, run to the nearest house. (Even if no one is home, this would be a deterrent.)

- Never, ever take a present from a stranger.

I was told this in kindergarten. It made me feel empowered, not frightened.

I associate it with my mother's reaction to the story of Richard Speck's murder of eight student nurses in Chicago. ( see link below) She was so impressed that one of them had the gumption to hide. Fascinating now is that my memory is of her telling me this when I was very small. But it actually happened the year I graduated from college. One of the important memories of my life corrected.

Another memory I know was when I was young. My parents left me at a theater on Saturday afternoon while they shopped. It was near empty, and a man sat next to me. I got up and moved far away. Again, I felt empowered.

Anyway, in my mind this is all connected to my irritation at where some people are drawing the #metoo line. In a lot of situations I think girls should be taught to just tell the jerk to bug off.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/nurse-hides-8-friends-raped-murdered-1966-article-1.2705565

[Stuart G]

1. k and r...nt

[Mariana]

2. Many people have the idea that kids are much more likely

to be kidnapped and/or molested than they were back in the day. It's not true, of course, but people believe it and they act accordingly.

[uppityperson]

3. After this talk as a child, I ran home in tears, sure my classmate had been kidnapped

We walked home together and her house was closer to the school than mine. As we got near her house, a man standing on the street gave her a lollipop, took her by the hand and walked away. I was terrified, sobbing, because he was a Stranger! My mom called them and talked to the dad who'd met his little girl at the corner and walked her home, hand in hand.

My parents redid the talk about what a Stranger was and how to make sure, if this happened again, that I could make sure a Stranger to me was not a stranger to my friend.


Yrs later, as a parent while camping with my kindergartener, I was asked by my child if they could ride in the back of a stranger's truck to go get campfire wood. My child was aghast that I'd consider someone whose child they'd been playing with as a stranger even though we knew nothing about them.

We talked again and settled with don't go with anyone without asking me first, don't take anything without asking me first, if you feel uncomfortable then don't do whatever and get to a safe place.

They were 2 good leaning opportunities for me. You've good advice in your op. Be watchful, strong, not frightened.