The third stranger that I will discuss is called the Game Player. This stranger is often one that is overlooked and not talked about with children, however, I beleive that this is one of the momst important strangers to inform children about because it is just as common as the others and can be even more dangerous than the others for many reasons. One reason that this stranger can be even more harmful than the others is because the Game Player will tell the child to not tell anyone about what they did and might even threaten the child that he/she will hurt their parents or someone else if they tell. Also, this stranger can be someone who is a family member, neighbor, or close friend, which makes this stranger even more deadly because his/hers threats are even more real to the child since they are well known by the family. The Game Player is often someone you would least expect, which is why it could be someone in the family but no one ever finds out because it is never suspected.
After the Game Player lures the child in, perhaps using the tactics of the Gift Giver, he/she will tell the child that they are going to play a game. This game is a game of touching the child in private places. Another name for the Game Player is the child molester. This kind of stranger will tell the child that they are going to play a game and even though the child will feel uncomfortable and know that it is wrong for the stranger to be doing this, the child will not stop the stranger because of fear and not knowing what to do. To teach children about this, tell them that no one is ever allowed to touch them where their bathing suit covers, not even family or relatives, and that someone they don't know is not allowed to touch them at all. Also, tell the child that the stranger may threaten them not to tell anyone about what the stranger did to them but that they must tell an adult right away. Assure the child that they will not be in trouble and that nothing bad will happen if they tell an adult about what happened; the stranger was just trying to scare them so they don't get caught for doing the wrong they did to the child. The child needs to know that no one is allowed to touch them and that they must tell an adult what happened so they can stay safe.
The fourth stranger is called Scary because he/she will use loud yelling, a gun, knife, and/or threats to capture the child. They scare the child into coming with them with loud threats so the child thinks that the stranger is going to hurt them if they don't go with them. The Scary stranger may drive up in a car and yell at the child to get in or else; they may have a gun or knife pointed towards the child. Scary will yell, "Come here! Come here now! Don't you run from me! I have a gun! Come here or I'll hurt or kill you!" The child then becomes so afraid that they let the stranger take them. We need to educate children about this kind of stranger and that if Scary approaches them, that they need to run the opposite direction yelling and screaming so some will hear them. They need to run to a place where other adults are and not to hide behind a wall or bush because that is a dead end. The child needs to run to a place where other adults are yelling, "Help! That's not my dad! Fire! He has gun! I'm hurt! I'm in trouble!" The child needs to yell anything that will capture other people's attention so they know that it is serious and not a child playing a game. If the stranger has a gun, the child needs to run in a zig-zag pattern in the opposite direction while yelling. Remember: even though this is scary stuff to discuss with your children, they need to know how to protect themselves and to be aware; they will have a very slim chance of surviving if they get into the car with a stranger.
Let's educate and protect our children about strangers.
Check out this website for a quiz your kids can take to test their knowledge on strangers: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/parentingquizzes/l/bl_strngdngr.htm
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