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Penn & Teller busted this myth in their Showtime show “Bullshit“, the episode about Stranger Danger. Watch a clip from this episode… click here>>
They interviewed Erin Runnion, founder of The Joyful Child Foundation, and mother to Samantha who was abducted, raped and murdered just before her 6th birthday. Erin believes that parents should take a very proactive role in protecting their children. Even though her child was tragically abducted to the worst possible effect, she still understands that the primary child predators are not strangers, but people that the family knows and trusts. More surprisingly, she advocates against teaching children about “stranger danger”. She feels that it is the parent’s role to be concerned for a child’s safety, it is not the child’s responsibility to worry about that. She feels that it is a child’s right to grow up feeling that the world is a safe and loving place. It is the parent’s responsibility to protect in appropriate ways.
The episode will rerun on Showtime:
08/09/08 11:45 PM ET/PT
08/09/08 01:15 AM ET/PT
08/10/08 11:00 PM ET/PT
08/10/08 12:00 AM ET/PT
08/11/08 12:15 AM ET/PT
08/14/08 10:30 PM ET/PT
09/02/08 11:00 PM ET/PT
09/16/08 11:30 PM ET/PT
09/25/08 09:30 PM ET/PT
Filed under: Stranger Danger, Uncategorized | Tagged: child, danger, Safety, stranger
The same concept applies to adults too. Stranger rape is much more rare than acquaintance rape, which I learned in college when one of my own classmates turned out to be a rapist. As an adult, my bigger concern when walking alone at night is being robbed or mugged. It doesn’t hurt to be safe, but we shouldn’t forget about the bigger dangers because of fear of the rare dangers.
When I was a child, there was a really nice man in line next to us at a fast food restaurant. He and I chatted about cats and my father’s work with the Sheriff Dept. Then as soon as he was out of hearing range, my mother gave me a lecture about how it was wrong for me to have spoken with a stranger. I felt really hurt and confused, since he was friendly, plus we had been within her sight the entire time!