Photo by Christina Welsh (Rin). (CC BY-ND 2.0)
If you grew up in the United States, or if you grew up in Canada and had access to American television networks, you may remember the “Stranger Danger” PSAs. If you are unfamiliar with this campaign, watch this PSA.
The “Stranger Danger” campaign was a huge failure. Why? One of the reasons it failed is because if you ask a child to define a stranger, it will be a different definition than that given by an adult. Unless the adult clearly defines what they mean by “stranger,” the child is probably imagining something quite different. However, the biggest reason this campaign failed is because most of the abuses this campaign was trying to protect children against are not perpetrated by strangers. They are perpetrated by the people known and trusted by both the parents and the children, such as family members, teachers, ministers, and community leaders.
Now, this same failure is happening in regards to protecting children from online predators. “Stranger Danger” didn’t work for our generation, so why do we think it will work for the online generation?
We’ve all heard the stories of the stranger pedophile who tries to lure the child in some online chatroom. We’ve all heard the stories of people who have met a stranger for a date, only to be raped or kidnapped. We’ve been told to tell our children to never speak to a stranger online or give them any personal information. It is the same thing my mother told me regarding strangers in the park, or if a stranger knocks on the door or if they telephone. As adults, we’ve been told that if you are going to meet a stranger whom you’ve met online, bring a buddy, tell a friend where you are going, have an escape route, etc.
We are failing our children. A lot of parents are not educating their children about the predators who are part of what we consider to be “safe” online communities. These “safe” online communities feel just like school, church, scout groups, sport teams, sleepovers at friends and family.
Read the rest of Jules’ post about safety and online communities and comment on GeekMom.
