UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that the experiment was created and carried out by Daybreak. Kidscape’s involvement came later when they were asked by the TV company to offer advice. See the comments for more information.
One of today’s big stories is the ‘shocking’ and ‘frightening’ result of an experiment by child protection charity Kidscape.
They set about to prove how easy it was for strangers to lure children away with them. They had several kids playing happily in a play park while their mothers sat nearby ‘distracted’ by a phone call. Then a man approached a child and asked them to come with him to look for his lost dog.
Apparently after some persuasion some of the children set off with him. Though, according to the report I read, two of the mums said their kids turned back fairly quickly.
I know kids do get abducted by strangers, it does happen, just not very often. In fact, according to Kidscape’s own figures 273 kids were taken by strangers last year compared to 368 who were taken by people they knew.
Just have a think about that. That’s nearly 100 more who were snatched by friends and family and doesn’t begin to include all the other kind of harms inflicted on children by those known to them – apparently people they ought to be able to trust.
Why on earth is Kidscape creating fear and alarm with this, at best, spurious piece of ‘research’? All it’s going to succeed in doing is making parents more fearful of letting their children have the freedom to play and learn to make their own decisions. It might even help breed a generation of children too terrified to trust in the goodness of human nature and the voice of their own instinct.
And the whole premise suggests that no one must ever speak to a child you don’t know – whatever your motivation.
It also reinforces the fallacy that danger is only going to take the form of a strange man you meet outside.
Instead, here’s what we should be expending time and energy on:
More ways of helping children to talk about things that make them miserable/frightened.
- Learning how to teach your children to trust their instinct and make informed decisions.
- Understanding the world is a risky place, but a life of fear is hardly a life at all.
And in order that we don’t have to endure many more publicity stunt scare stories we need these lessons too:
- What gives something good news value (ie makes the papers & gets shared on the internet) is not the same as a good value news (ie balanced, sensible information).
- There will always be wicked people and there’s not always something we can do to protect ourselves from them. Luckily most of us will never meet one.
Meantime, for goodness sake, keep taking your kids to the park and letting them out to play. By all means tell them not to go with strangers, but don’t let it spoil anyone’s fun.
I read about this on twitter….
It is pretty scary to think about your child being taken but the article it is just causing fear!
It is a scary thing, but I think it's important to keep it in proportion.
Ellen,
I am afraid your above comments are inaccurate and you have not grasped what the “Stranger Danger” Campaign is about. The investigation was the idea and ownership of the ITV programme DayBreak. This was filmed a while ago and it was during post production that DayBreak contacted Kidcape and asked us to support the initiative. Despite what you say, we are not in the business of stunts or getting publicity for the sake of it. Part of our mission is to raise public awareness about issues affecting children and young people therefore engaging with the media to promote safety issues is relevant and crucial to engaging people in discussion, debate and action. We considered at long lengths if we would support this ITV investigation. When we were shown the footage we were shocked at how 7 out of 9 children left the park with the stranger and thought that it was justified to support this investigation and to raise awareness about abductions. Again, I am afraid you have got your facts incorrect – we have spoken at length about how children are more at risk from people they know rather than strangers, we have been clear that strangers are not most likely to look like normal people and not be scary or sinister – we have also emphasised the importance for parents to be careful they don't scare the child when discussing this important issue I could go on, however, I can assure you that our motivation to help raise awareness of this issue is one we stand by. In the future, please feel free to call me at any time to discuss our work to ensure your articles can be accurate in their content. Peter Bradley, Director of Services, Kidscape
Hi Peter,
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
I'm sorry I hadn't realised that the initiative was one by Daybreak with Kidscape only involved after the fact. The articles I read used the phrases 'backed by Kidscape' and in 'association with Kidscape', so you can see where that confusion arose. I visited the Kidscape website for an official statement or further information, but none was obvious.
I wasn't calling into question Kidscape's wider objectives nor the excellent and important work you carry out.
My post was prompted by newspaper articles that, in my opinion, do more to foster fear than to prompt considered debate about how best to keep children safe. My view on this hasn't changed.
However, I'm sure we would find much common ground on issues of protecting children without frightening them. What the 'experiment' clearly shows is that the usual warnings almost every parent issues about dealings with strangers are ineffective.
If you are interested, I'd be delighted to publish a post containing your advice to parents on the best course of action.
Ellen