Hypothesis: 'Stranger Danger' results in adult phobias and criminal psychopathy

[Delta4Embassy]

During a visit at Mom's with my brother and his wife, sitting out on her backyard deck talking the conversation came around to crime. We're a law enforcement family so this is usually inevitible. Making cupcakes and cookies for the residents and their kids for the past year I brought up the one kid who finally declined an offered cookie saying her Mom told her not to accept them any more because "you might put something in them." Me being me, my first thought was "what, like peanuts? Are you allergic to peanuts?" But of course she was speaking of drugs or poison (presumedly, she didn't say so but that's what I'd think.) So the conversation swung around to the 'Stranger Danger' campaign. I asked Mom if she'd raised with me with since I don't recall the slogan so much as lots of individual do's and don'ts. "Don't talk to strangers." "Do ask any policeman or firefighter or paramedic for help if lost or needing a grown-ups' help."

Looking up more info about the Stranger Danger campaign I wasn't at all surprised to see there's detractors and some case studies about the failings of such campaigns. An 11 yo Boy Scout lost in the woods avoided search parties froh im afriad they were strangers who'd "steal him away." My own thought was such messages to kids would result intheir growing up full of mistrust which would result in their self-isolation. When you remove yourself from social situations you inevitably end up watching more tv and nowadays, spending more time on the internet.

But being naturally social primates we have a built-in desire to be social. But if we have the Stranger Danger thing in our heads how does the socializing come about? Do we repress it and become mentally ill? Or do we look online for socialization and gravitate to television and movies? If you raise kids to be afraid of every "stranger" how do they make friends? Every friend begins as a stranger afterall. And don't these kids who become adults then wind up being socially paranoid or even criminal? If everyone's an enemy you're likely not a very nice person.

Wondering about the statistics for Stranger Danger and actual crimes against children I was surprised to learn:

"Constantly warning children of possible danger in the form of strangers has also been criticised as exaggerating the potential threat and unnecessarily spreading mistrust, especially when considering that (for example) in the US, about 800,000 children are reported at least temporarily missing every year, yet only 115 "become victims of what is viewed as classic stranger abductions".[10]"

10. Does 'stranger danger' go too far? - MSNBC, Transcript, ET June 23, 2005
Does 'stranger danger' go too far? - msnbc - The Abrams Report | NBC News


I spend a lot of my free time thinking about current issues like crime, war, violence, and their causes. I can't help but believe there must be a better way to keep children safe than convincing them every stranger is a threat. How about instead of the slogan Stranger Danger we use Ask Mom or Dad? Believe it or not, there ARE many more nice people in the world than bad ones. And chances are MUCH better the long-time resident who bakes cookies and cupcake every week and shares them with all his neighbors and their kids ISN'T trying to poison you. (yes this was all about me...hehe jk.)

 

[emilynghiem]

Yes, I agree that children should be taught to go to a safe resort for help.
(In some cases, even Mom or Dad can be an abusive predator, so a third help is needed like checking with a school counselor or teacher if it's something wrong with Mom or Dad the child does not feel safe sharing)

Whenever I give ANYTHING to a child, I always give it to the PARENT to give to their own child.

Since you are in a law enforcement family, I would love to see community wide training where everyone knows the law enforcement procedures.

If the boy in the woods knew the process of identifying who is following the process,
he would not be confused.

If people know who is their local police, who are the local people who aren't a problem, which people have social or mood disorders and require a health professional to intervene in case of emergency, then we'd be more aware and could find out easier if someone is posing a threat or risk.

I agree that too much fear based on "unforgiven rejection" or even hatred/blame
is a negative emotion that blocks judgment and can interfere with natural intuition.

The people I know who work with criminal corrections and counseling and are successful in helping people overcome problems in their own families this way, are VERY forgiving and compassionate and have higher perceptive abilities to distinguish the criminals in denial from the ones who can be trusted to correct their problems, and the people who are safe and not a problem at all.

During a visit at Mom's with my brother and his wife, sitting out on her backyard deck talking the conversation came around to crime. We're a law enforcement family so this is usually inevitible. Making cupcakes and cookies for the residents and their kids for the past year I brought up the one kid who finally declined an offered cookie saying her Mom told her not to accept them any more because "you might put something in them." Me being me, my first thought was "what, like peanuts? Are you allergic to peanuts?" But of course she was speaking of drugs or poison (presumedly, she didn't say so but that's what I'd think.) So the conversation swung around to the 'Stranger Danger' campaign. I asked Mom if she'd raised with me with since I don't recall the slogan so much as lots of individual do's and don'ts. "Don't talk to strangers." "Do ask any policeman or firefighter or paramedic for help if lost or needing a grown-ups' help."

Looking up more info about the Stranger Danger campaign I wasn't at all surprised to see there's detractors and some case studies about the failings of such campaigns. An 11 yo Boy Scout lost in the woods avoided search parties froh im afriad they were strangers who'd "steal him away." My own thought was such messages to kids would result intheir growing up full of mistrust which would result in their self-isolation. When you remove yourself from social situations you inevitably end up watching more tv and nowadays, spending more time on the internet.

But being naturally social primates we have a built-in desire to be social. But if we have the Stranger Danger thing in our heads how does the socializing come about? Do we repress it and become mentally ill? Or do we look online for socialization and gravitate to television and movies? If you raise kids to be afraid of every "stranger" how do they make friends? Every friend begins as a stranger afterall. And don't these kids who become adults then wind up being socially paranoid or even criminal? If everyone's an enemy you're likely not a very nice person.

Wondering about the statistics for Stranger Danger and actual crimes against children I was surprised to learn:

"Constantly warning children of possible danger in the form of strangers has also been criticised as exaggerating the potential threat and unnecessarily spreading mistrust, especially when considering that (for example) in the US, about 800,000 children are reported at least temporarily missing every year, yet only 115 "become victims of what is viewed as classic stranger abductions".[10]"

10. Does 'stranger danger' go too far? - MSNBC, Transcript, ET June 23, 2005
Does 'stranger danger' go too far? - msnbc - The Abrams Report | NBC News


I spend a lot of my free time thinking about current issues like crime, war, violence, and their causes. I can't help but believe there must be a better way to keep children safe than convincing them every stranger is a threat. How about instead of the slogan Stranger Danger we use Ask Mom or Dad? Believe it or not, there ARE many more nice people in the world than bad ones. And chances are MUCH better the long-time resident who bakes cookies and cupcake every week and shares them with all his neighbors and their kids ISN'T trying to poison you. (yes this was all about me...hehe jk.)

 

[whitehall]

Leave it to a network that caters to stupid democrats to claim that American parents are too protective of their kids. Somebody should sue MSNBC for promoting this crap. Statistics prove that child abductions by strangers occur within 1/4 mile from the home and 20% of missing non family abductions reported to the National Center are not found alive. It's strange that MSNBC focuses on the relatively "small" number of actual kidnapping victims by strangers but doesn't address the real issue of sexual molestation by strangers.

 

[WinterBorn]

Most child abuse is at the hands of someone the child knows.

 

[whitehall]

Most child abuse is at the hands of someone the child knows.

Most child abuses yada yada. The problem is that fools like liberal democrats and MSNBC propagandists depend on cliches while kids are assaulted and abused and die at the hands of strangers. MSNBC should apologize.

 

[Disir]

There is no cookie cutter approach. We can't say that many different experiences need to be discussed and then apply it as mass information. Much depends on where you live AND the kid and the experience of the parents. There are 101 experiences that one would never think they would ever (in a million years) have to tell their kids about until it happens. Really.

Stupid things, like, if your friend drives up in a car and asks if you want to go for a ride then DO get all license, registration, insurance on 'em. You don't know if the kid stole his parents car until you get pulled over and they aren't going to care.

When you live in a high crime area with a transient population, drugs or near an on ramp to the interstate then it makes a whole lot of sense to be extra cautious. How connected to the community is the family? How long have they lived there?

My son is an extrovert. I am an introvert. When he was a baby and just learning to walk around, he would size up little old ladies and then toddle over and give them a hug. Freaked me right out. Seven years later and after Stranger Danger the same kid was playing outside with a friend. He came to me and announced that he was going to walk into the woods with his friend and his friend's babysitter. I said no. He said, he should be able to go because the babysitter was not a stranger. He was an "A-dult". Ya, just drive by with a freakin' black van and a box of puppies why doncha?

By changing one word. That's all it took.

He has always been a social creature. I'm so glad that that he is way older.

 

[Mr. H.]

I'm curious- what was your mother's answer to your question?

 

[Politico]

An 11 yo Boy Scout lost in the woods avoided search parties froh im afriad they were strangers who'd "steal him away."

Sorry I don't know what 11 'yo' old boy or 'te froh im afriad' means. In any case anyone who teaches their kids to avoid being found are idiots.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

There is no cookie cutter approach. We can't say that many different experiences need to be discussed and then apply it as mass information. Much depends on where you live AND the kid and the experience of the parents. There are 101 experiences that one would never think they would ever (in a million years) have to tell their kids about until it happens. Really.

Stupid things, like, if your friend drives up in a car and asks if you want to go for a ride then DO get all license, registration, insurance on 'em. You don't know if the kid stole his parents car until you get pulled over and they aren't going to care.

When you live in a high crime area with a transient population, drugs or near an on ramp to the interstate then it makes a whole lot of sense to be extra cautious. How connected to the community is the family? How long have they lived there?

My son is an extrovert. I am an introvert. When he was a baby and just learning to walk around, he would size up little old ladies and then toddle over and give them a hug. Freaked me right out. Seven years later and after Stranger Danger the same kid was playing outside with a friend. He came to me and announced that he was going to walk into the woods with his friend and his friend's babysitter. I said no. He said, he should be able to go because the babysitter was not a stranger. He was an "A-dult". Ya, just drive by with a freakin' black van and a box of puppies why doncha?

By changing one word. That's all it took.

He has always been a social creature. I'm so glad that that he is way older.

Remember hugging adults as a kid myself. Teachers in particular. Try that today and HLN will have an hour segment on teacher-student sexual misconduct. We're making people adults, and children paranoid.

 

[Disir]

There is no cookie cutter approach. We can't say that many different experiences need to be discussed and then apply it as mass information. Much depends on where you live AND the kid and the experience of the parents. There are 101 experiences that one would never think they would ever (in a million years) have to tell their kids about until it happens. Really.

Stupid things, like, if your friend drives up in a car and asks if you want to go for a ride then DO get all license, registration, insurance on 'em. You don't know if the kid stole his parents car until you get pulled over and they aren't going to care.

When you live in a high crime area with a transient population, drugs or near an on ramp to the interstate then it makes a whole lot of sense to be extra cautious. How connected to the community is the family? How long have they lived there?

My son is an extrovert. I am an introvert. When he was a baby and just learning to walk around, he would size up little old ladies and then toddle over and give them a hug. Freaked me right out. Seven years later and after Stranger Danger the same kid was playing outside with a friend. He came to me and announced that he was going to walk into the woods with his friend and his friend's babysitter. I said no. He said, he should be able to go because the babysitter was not a stranger. He was an "A-dult". Ya, just drive by with a freakin' black van and a box of puppies why doncha?

By changing one word. That's all it took.

He has always been a social creature. I'm so glad that that he is way older.

Remember hugging adults as a kid myself. Teachers in particular. Try that today and HLN will have an hour segment on teacher-student sexual misconduct. We're making people adults, and children paranoid.

I agree. But, I also find it interesting that that McBride's advice isn't really advice. I find it rather condescending and devoid of any real content.

 

[whitehall]

There is no cookie cutter approach. We can't say that many different experiences need to be discussed and then apply it as mass information. Much depends on where you live AND the kid and the experience of the parents. There are 101 experiences that one would never think they would ever (in a million years) have to tell their kids about until it happens. Really.

Stupid things, like, if your friend drives up in a car and asks if you want to go for a ride then DO get all license, registration, insurance on 'em. You don't know if the kid stole his parents car until you get pulled over and they aren't going to care.

When you live in a high crime area with a transient population, drugs or near an on ramp to the interstate then it makes a whole lot of sense to be extra cautious. How connected to the community is the family? How long have they lived there?

My son is an extrovert. I am an introvert. When he was a baby and just learning to walk around, he would size up little old ladies and then toddle over and give them a hug. Freaked me right out. Seven years later and after Stranger Danger the same kid was playing outside with a friend. He came to me and announced that he was going to walk into the woods with his friend and his friend's babysitter. I said no. He said, he should be able to go because the babysitter was not a stranger. He was an "A-dult". Ya, just drive by with a freakin' black van and a box of puppies why doncha?

By changing one word. That's all it took.

He has always been a social creature. I'm so glad that that he is way older.

Remember hugging adults as a kid myself. Teachers in particular. Try that today and HLN will have an hour segment on teacher-student sexual misconduct. We're making people adults, and children paranoid.

I'm beginning to think that the argument has more to do with NAMBLA's agenda than the legitimate concerns of parents.

 

[Disir]

There is no cookie cutter approach. We can't say that many different experiences need to be discussed and then apply it as mass information. Much depends on where you live AND the kid and the experience of the parents. There are 101 experiences that one would never think they would ever (in a million years) have to tell their kids about until it happens. Really.

Stupid things, like, if your friend drives up in a car and asks if you want to go for a ride then DO get all license, registration, insurance on 'em. You don't know if the kid stole his parents car until you get pulled over and they aren't going to care.

When you live in a high crime area with a transient population, drugs or near an on ramp to the interstate then it makes a whole lot of sense to be extra cautious. How connected to the community is the family? How long have they lived there?

My son is an extrovert. I am an introvert. When he was a baby and just learning to walk around, he would size up little old ladies and then toddle over and give them a hug. Freaked me right out. Seven years later and after Stranger Danger the same kid was playing outside with a friend. He came to me and announced that he was going to walk into the woods with his friend and his friend's babysitter. I said no. He said, he should be able to go because the babysitter was not a stranger. He was an "A-dult". Ya, just drive by with a freakin' black van and a box of puppies why doncha?

By changing one word. That's all it took.

He has always been a social creature. I'm so glad that that he is way older.

Remember hugging adults as a kid myself. Teachers in particular. Try that today and HLN will have an hour segment on teacher-student sexual misconduct. We're making people adults, and children paranoid.

I'm beginning to think that the argument has more to do with NAMBLA's agenda than the legitimate concerns of parents.

You really are a sick POS.