Teaching Our Children about Stranger Danger

By Joan Grayson Cohen, LCSW-C, Esq., Senior Manager, Access Services

How many of us heard the warnings 'Don’t talk to strangers' or 'Don’t accept candy from strangers' as we grew up? Does that advice still apply today? If so, what meaning does it have for our children? What are the specific dangers that we need to be talking to our kids about?

'Don’t talk to strangers,' seemed to cover danger when I was growing up. I felt that if I abided by this rule I was safe.

I had to have my Halloween candy checked by my parents before I indulged in those treats, but there wasn’t a lot more that I had to worry about.

We very rarely heard of missing children or children being harmed by strangers, and internet dangers were an unknown threat. (I have to admit it; we didn’t even have personal computers when I was a child.) So when raising my own children,  Read more...