15. Keeping Kids Safe

Last week, Jamie looked at the many ways we can explain the heavy stuff—body parts, birth, death—to our kids in language that’s simple yet mature. For this installment, we’re looking at an upsetting but still very important topic: the creepy people who can be of danger to your children. There’s no way to keep your children completely sheltered and safe without emotionally stunting them and preventing them from truly growing up. They’re going to have to step out of your line of sight at some point. The best we can do is to impart some hard yet necessary truths about the world to them so that if they do find themselves in a troubling situation, they know what to do.

In this episode, Jamie discusses how we can minimize the risks faced by our children while also minimizing the perception of risk—that is to say, how parents with the best intentions can misread innocent people and situations as devious and dangerous. Jamie also impresses the importance of teaching your little ones when it’s okay to say ‘no.’

The Finer Details of This Episode:

How malicious adults manipulate fear and shame to take advantage of children.

Kidnapping is absolutely something to be concerned about, but we need to understand how unlikely it is.

Human traffickers exist, and they’re awful, but your children are NOT their targets.

Debunking some myths about stranger danger, and revealing how the actual dangers your child faces may be closer to home.

Why teaching our kids to say ‘no’ in a mature and respectful way is so vital to their safety and growth.

How Jamie was able to impart some wisdom about consent to her son Pascal.

Quotes:

“It is imperative that we talk shamelessly about this stuff.”

“Knowing who the good people are is just as important as who the bad guys are.”

“We want to create this culture of ‘It’s okay to dissent’.”

“It’s really never too early or too late to talk to your kids about keeping them safe.”

Links:

Free Range Kids - http://www.freerangekids.com/

Jamie’s homepage - http://www.jamieglowacki.com/ 

Oh Crap! Potty Training - https://www.amazon.com/Crap-Potty-Training-Everything-Parenting-ebook/dp/B00V3L8YSU

Oh Crap! I Have A Toddler [Get my new book] - 

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Oh-Crap!-I-Have-a-Toddler/Jamie-Glowacki/Oh-Crap-Parenting/9781982109738

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