talking to kids about personal safety

[warrior mama]

My dd is 3 years old. I tell her not to go where i can't see her and now every thing I ask is answered with "why". Do I say, "people out there might want to hurt you", will i be scaring her too much. How do you start this conversation. Is she too young?

[mamazee]

Someone snatching your child is probably the least likely problem that could happen at a park. More likely is that she'd get bullied by other kids and need your help, get lost and not be able to find you if she needed you, or get hurt and want you to console her but not be able to get to you. You could always give those reasons instead.

[lizabird]

That's a tough one for us too. DS asks "Why?" which is of course a great question, but hard to answer without going overboard with all the aweful possibilities.

I have told him that he needs to stay where we can see each other so that I will know where he is and not get worried about him if I can't see him.

[perl]

I just tell DS (3.5) "because I don't want you to get hurt or lost." He seems to accept that.

[aschmied]

Originally Posted by perl

I just tell DS (3.5) "because I don't want you to get hurt or lost." He seems to accept that.

Really? I try that, and I get
"How would I get hurt?" How would I get lost?", then reasonably logical counters to my answers, like "But Mamma, I won't go anywhere but our yard and the Olson's yard". And I believe that 99% of the time that would be true. Also, she regularly recommends that I leave the baby in the car and go inside just with her. That one annoys me, but is easier to deal with!

[annethcz]

My answer to that question is, "because I'm your mom and it's my job to take care of you/my job to keep you safe."

Honestly, I'm not worried about anyone snatching my kids, but I do worry about the kind of trouble they could get into without supervision.

[Surfacing]

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