Protect Our Children; Drop The “Stranger Danger” Signal
By Mathu H. Liyanage -September 7, 2012
Dr. Mathu H. Liyanage
It has been the practice of parents in the past to warn children to be careful of strangers and to avoid or run away from them as far as possible. Unfortunately, in a fast changing world, things have changed so swiftly and traumatically for the worse where sexual abuse, violence and crime against children are concerned.
The moral standards of the society in which kids are born and brought up have eroded to such an extent that most of the child abusers and predators now come mostly from fairly educated class of persons with a standing and authority in the areas in which children live. The predators have invariably mastered the skills and techniques in befriending kids through the media, TVs, computers and internet by which they have easy access to similar occurrences in other countries. They snap up clues and methods of enticing children to meet their uncontrolled sexual urges and demands.
It is high time that parents did away with the “stranger danger” message as it makes no sense in the present environment though every stranger to children such as the police or responsible members of the community may not represent danger. Parents should explain to their children the dangers of meeting or speaking to an unknown person as, older children especially teenagers, are vulnerable to sex predators.
