Stockton Elementary School
Julie
Gumm
Elementary
School Counselor
Dear Parents,
All of our students are excited this week about the Walnut
Festival, and honestly I am too. My
intent of this letter is not to throw a wet blanket on the community spirit,
but I feel that it is my responsibility to talk with the children this week
about “stranger danger”. I apologize for the length of this letter, but
I feel this is too important a subject, so I want to be thorough. After our “stranger
danger” lesson at school, I will be asking the students to talk with their
parents when they get home about having a safety plan and a family secret
safety word. I have included an excerpt
from an online article that will give you some ideas about how to talk with
your child.
If you have questions, please call me or come by the school.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Gumm,
TRAINING YOUR KIDS
Written by Angela Dove
While it’s important to talk to your kids about “stranger
danger,” giving your kids the experience of acting out dangerous moments will
prepare them better than your words. Think of it like a fire-drill. You can
tell your kids, “If the fire alarm goes off, immediately leave the house, go
next door to Mrs. Thompson’s, and call 911.” But many families (and every
school) practice by walking the kids out of the house. Actions reinforce
information, especially in children. So just like walking your kids through a
fire drill, you should also act out the most popular ways strangers may try to
lure them toward a vehicle or into a secluded area.
First tell your children what to do if approached by a
stranger. Shout. Run. Get to a crowded area or another adult.
Second, have a parent or grandparent—a trusted adult—use the
following lines on your kids. “Do you want to come pet my puppy/kitten?”
“Can you help me find my lost puppy/kitten?”
“Do you want some candy?”
“I’m lost. Can you give me directions?”
“I’m friends with your mom/dad and they asked me to give you
a ride to where they are.” (For this approach, make sure your kids know (1) you
will never send a stranger for them and (2) any family friend who is really
supposed to get them will know your family’s secret safety word. Tell them, “Even if nice Mrs. Thompson
says we asked her to get you, do NOT go with her unless she knows our secret
safety word, APPLESAUCE.”)
Some abductors will forgo any friendliness and instead prey
on a child’s fear. They may say, “Get in the car now or I’ll hurt you.”
“—or I’ll kill you.” “—or I’ll kill your family.” They may even
have a weapon.
In each of these situations, have your child shout “No!” and
head toward the nearest adult.
At our house we even placed our hand around our kids’ wrists
and talked about what to do if a stranger tried to grab them. Sometimes adults
and children alike can freeze in panic if their would-be abductor grabs them.
It’s a different level of psychological play at that point, but survivors know
not to give up the fight at that point.
When practicing the grab scenario, we had our kids shout,
“This is a stranger! This is not my parent! This is a stranger!” (Kids
shouldn’t just rely on shouting “Help!” as other adults might possibly believe
they are unruly children being removed from public by a frustrated parent.) In
our re-enactment we skipped the part where our kids kick or hit the stranger,
but we made certain they understood they should do anything in their power to
get away, or at least slow the person down while drawing as much attention to
them as possible.
http://write4chocolate.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/stranger-abduction-my-son-did/
