Does warning kids of ‘stranger danger’ give them the right tools for interacting with people?

Earlier in the show we spoke with Madeleine Baran of APM’s In The Dark, and she discussed the first season of the podcast that dealt with the abduction of 11 year old Jacob Wetterling. In that series, the parents of Jacob Wetterling discussed how that case was a classic case of ‘stranger danger’, but how, despite what happened to their son, parents should not parent their children based on what happened to their son. Instead, the Wetterling family encouraged parents to remember that children are often harmed by someone they know.

Geoff Newiss is the Director of Action Against Abduction in the UK , and his organization feels that the idea of stranger danger has fostered an unhealthy amount of fear of strangers among children. It inspired him to devise a new safety message for children, which he thinks is more fit for purpose - not least because the majority of abductions are committed by an adult already known to the child.

Guest: Geoff Newiss

Director, Action Against Abduction

Earlier in the show we spoke with Madeleine Baran of APM’s In The Dark, and she discussed the first season of the podcast that dealt with the abduction of 11 year old Jacob Wetterling. In that series, the parents of Jacob Wetterling discussed how that case was a classic case of ‘stranger danger’, but how, despite what happened to their son, parents should not parent their children based on what happened to their son. Instead, the Wetterling family encouraged parents to remember that children are often harmed by someone they know.

Geoff Newiss is the Director of Action Against Abduction in the UK , and his organization feels that the idea of stranger danger has fostered an unhealthy amount of fear of strangers among children. It inspired him to devise a new safety message for children, which he thinks is more fit for purpose - not least because the majority of abductions are committed by an adult already known to the child.

Guest: Geoff Newiss

Director, Action Against Abduction