As they get older, we want them to be able to explore the outside and online worlds safely. One of the biggest challenges facing any parent is how to give your child enough freedom to learn for themselves – sometimes from their mistakes – whilst fulfilling that most basic parental duty to keep your kids safe. There’s no escaping that worrying things do sometimes happen. Whether it’s something suspicious in your local community or a huge national media story, there are times when we need to be able to pick up a conversation with our kids, re-assure them, and remind them how to stay safe. Unfortunately, too many parents and schools are all too often turning to ‘stranger danger’ to do this. We say ‘unfortunately’ because ‘stranger danger’ simply doesn’t work. The simple fact is that most strangers would help rather than hurt a child. And the people that do want to hurt children are often not strangers. Teaching children to stay safe by focusing on strangers is just – well – dangerous.
You won’t be left telling your child to fear the worst of everyone they don’t know. You’ll be finely tuning their instincts, to spot if someone (anyone) is asking them to go somewhere, and to know what action to take to stay safe. It’s designed to be positive, practical, playful and – above all else – to keep things in perspective. Take a look at the Clever Never Goes resources and lets ditch the fear and keep our kids safe, not scared.
For more information on helping your child to keep safe, please click on the following link
