Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Mighty Mommy, Mighty Mommy's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. This episode is focusing only on the basics of talking to your child about strangers. Anonymous parenting You all seem to think its ok to make a 4year old paranoid about people. In fact, a lot of you were PROUD that your children are AFRAID of strangers. What are you going to do when they have to go to school and have to interact with people they don't know? Oh I forgot. Homeschool. http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=14582#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=14582#Comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:50:44 GMT J.David Bennett II parenting I would like to respond to the comment submitted by Julia. I would like to say that she makes a valid point and as I site here reading this I am at the Police Department preparing to speak to a group of GIRL SCOUTS about Strangers. The securit guard comment is a good thought and yes uniforms can be counterfeited, however so can the uniforms of store employees. Rather than tell children to stay away from security guards why not take the extra step and find out who the stores security guards are and what type of background checks are done to employ those that do security work. If you tell your children to stay away from those in uniform you run the risk of children starting to think that uniforms equal trouble. Also, some police officers have second jobs as security guards especially in larger cities. I'm not saying that the thought is bad I am only trying to offer some other insights. Thank You for the time. BUCKLE UP and DRIVE SAFE!! http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=12063#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=12063#Comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:12:24 GMT Julia parenting Parents can never start too soon in discussing Stranger Danger with children, but I think it should be noted that security guard uniforms often very closely resemble those of police officers. Security guards may even have badges that look enough like police badges to fool adults, too. While there is no reason to suspect security guards more than any other segment of the population I would like to ask parents to teach children that if they are lost in stores or shopping malls they should ask cashiers for help instead of security guards (who may not even be employed by a mall and may use the uniform and badge as a ruse to trick children). And to keep them from getting lost—never let go of your child’s hand! http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11522#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11522#Comments Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:21:50 GMT Chad parenting I'm not a mommy, but I appreciate the tips and hope that I can be a mighty daddy. I went sledding with my 7 year-old son yesterday. A while after we got to the hill another boy about the same age as my son arrived with a remote control 4-wheeler. He was driving it up and down the hill. When my son mentioned how hard it was to climb up the hill I replied loud enough that the other boy could hear that maybe the 4-wheeler could pull us up the hill. The other boy completely ignored me. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but later realized that I was a stranger. The boy acted exactly as I would want my son to act if the roles were reversed. It's possible that he was hard of hearing, but I like to think that his parents have trained him well about the dangers of strangers. It also made me resolve to be better at not contacting children who shouldn't have anything to do with me. http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11499#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11499#Comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:32:18 GMT Delaina Foust parenting We have been having an issue in our school area with a couple men trying to take children as they are getting off of the bus after school - this has prompted me to try to discuss Stranger Danger with my 6 yr old daughter. I had her listen to this broadcast with me to hear that there are other parents saying the same thing (not just Mommy). Thank you for offering a way to help reinforce this VITAL lesson for all children. http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11458#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11458#Comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:39:06 GMT Alyse parenting Loved the Stranger Danger advice. I've been teaching my 3 daughter about strangers as best I can at her age of 3. We talk about who is in our family and who are strangers. While grocery shopping in the produce section last week, she said to me "Mommy, all these people here are strangers". Several people turned around to look at her. I smiled and looked at her and them and said "yes, all of these people are strangers, we don't know them". Teaching her about strangers has made my overly friendly toddler skidish when people walk up and speak to her. She looks to me for a signal to see if it's okay to converse back with them. I'm happy to see at three she has already picked up on the concept. Yet, I can't help but wonder if she'd walk off to get a balloon too! I'm a new listener and have been enjoying the informative podcasts. Sincerely, Alyse Miami, Florida http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11426#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11426#Comments Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:29:40 GMT Holly parenting I would also recommend (for adults) Gavin deBecker's book "Protecting the Gift", which is a spin off of his book "The Gift of Fear" (which all women should read). "Protecting the Gift" talks about keeping kids safe from all kinds of situations (kidnapping, sexual abuse, etc) and has a lengthy section on strangers and how to talk to your kids about them. http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11410#Comments http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx?commentid=11410#Comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:27:39 GMT Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:50:44 GMT http://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/mommy-stranger-danger.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us