This is the last of a three part series on personal safety for children. It’s put out by Seattle Police Department’s Crime Prevention section. Establishing a system of family rules about personal safety can be a good way to teach children to distinguish between safe and non-safe situations. Part 1 was a set of suggestions for ‘inside rules’ and Part 2 was ‘outside rules’. Part 3 is ‘bad guy rules’.
Bad Guy Rules:
- Teach kids that “bad guys” can be anyone; society teaches kids that bad guys are always ugly, mean and scary, and look like monsters. Bad guys are almost always portrayed as strangers.
- Remember, a stranger is someone who is not known by the child. A friend of parents, a friend of the child’s friend, or a neighbor can be a stranger. And a stranger can be a good guy or a bad guy.
- Some bad guys act nice, friendly and attractive. Some bad guys play tricks on kids. Typical bad guy tricks include bribes (money, toys, games, or promises of those things), lies (your mother told me to pick you up at school), requests for help (my puppy ran away, can you help me find him?) or threats (if you don’t come with me I’ll hurt your mom).
- Teach kids that a bad guy is someone who asks them to violate family rules, e.g. someone who says they don’t need permission to accompany them.
- Develop a family “code word”. If someone other than a parent is goig to pick up a kid at school, that person should repeat the “code word” first before the kid agrees to leave the safety of the school grounds. The code word should remain a secret and be changed should others learn of it.
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