Stranger Safety Resources

When teaching personal safety lessons I start by asking the students if they have heard of "stranger danger."  Usually 90% say "yes." I then tell them to take their hands make a ball put stranger danger in their hands and throw it out the window.  They like this warm-up and I have their attention.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) does not support the “stranger danger” message. The majority of cases have shown most children are not taken by a stranger, but rather are abducted by someone they know. If we tell children to “never talk to strangers,” we have effectively eliminated a key source of help for them. If they are lost they may be surrounded by many rescuers who could help them. If children perceive these people as “strangers,” they may not speak or reach out to them. There have been cases in which a child’s rescue was delayed because the lost child was afraid to call out to the “strangers” when rescuers were nearby. Check out all of their resources at missingkids.com

Another resource is the Yello Dyno Method™ a scientifically based research program of Dr. Roger Sperry and the internationally recognized research on children in crisis of Dr. Bruce Perry. It works in real life because the information is stored in the part of the brain that activates in the "fight or flight" response.  Find out more about this method at yellodyno.com

One of my favorite books to share in first grade classrooms on this important topic is Scoop by Julia Cook.