Hi, I am a SAHM of three beautiful children. My oldest is a very bright wonderful 4 1/2 year old boy. He will be starting Kindergarden next August, he is growing up so fast. It's a scary world we live in today and he is such a nice, polite, little boy. He talks and trusts everyone and has many friends. I think it's time to start the stranger danger talks. I want him to be aware of bad people and things but I don't want to take away his inocense or scare him. He is such an inquisitive little boy with a big heart. He is sensitive also. I don't want to scare him. Any suggestions on how to handle this?
Thanks so much for all the advise. I am definatly going to get the safe side video. I think thats a start. And I'm just going to go from there. Right now he is never out of my sight but I definatly have to have that talk to tell him where to go if he gets lost. I love the suggestion to tell him to go to someone that looks like a mommy if he gets lost. That's a good idea. Thank you everyone!
check out "the safe side" stragner safety dvd. Its upbeat but informative and very wacky. It was created by the baby einstien founder and john walsh/americas most wanted. I have a home daycare and I have the children watch it a couple times a month. It really keeps their attention.
Good luck.
There is a video call "safe side" or On the safe side. By Julie Clark (baby einstein) And John Walsh
Good luck
S.
Hi, I have a 5 year old daughter who started kindergarten this year and my husband is VERY worried about "stranger danger" and I am not so much. However it is a scary world and what we have done is gotten some books from the library/bookstore about the subject. I think that your 4 1/2 year old will probably understand on some level what the story is about. One that I like is The Berenstien Bears stranger danger. My daughter is also the kind of child to talk to anyone and she still is even after talking about strangers. I would not be too concerned about scaring him if you present it in a manner that he can relate with.
Good Luck :)
E.
Hello, D.. I too have a 4 1/2 year old daughter that will be starting kindergarten in July. I am also worried about the dangers of strangers, and child abductions. My husband and I, are looking into either getting her an easy to use cell phone or walkie talkies with enough range from our home to her school. Fortunately for us, the school is less than a mile away from our house. Most of the communication equipment available are compatible with a 2 to 5 mile range, and of course cell phones, work from anywhere. A cell phone seems to be the better option, but your child must already know how to identify different numbers at sight, so that he can be able to dial the phone number or at least a spead dial number. Other options that we have found, is attending to child abduction prevention programs or obtaining your own home monitoring system. These systems are available. They come in a form of a watch that a child wears (can only be removed with a key), and the parent has a monitoring system at home. Search for more information about it on the web. (ion-kids.com)
I don't think he is old enough to be told that some people are bad. A four year old doesn't understand that. I would wait until he is older (seven is when we had the conversation with my first child) so he can process logically what you are saying. If he is rarely out of your sight and the only time he is gone is at kindergarten, he's not really around dangerous people, so why plant the idea now?
D.,
I had asked my brother-in-law this same question last month. I have a 4 year old daughter. He said at this age, you need to just tell them that they need to stay by you always when you are out at the store etc. Don't ever go with anyone unless you are there with them. My brother-in-law is a sergeant for the Lakewood Police Dept in Colorado.
