And I'm 33 and used to be a social work assistant! I don't half feel thick.
My stupidity aside...
What a spectacularly useless and uniformed campaign.
We were never given any idea why we should be wary of 'a stranger' only that we shouldn't take sweets off them (I think I thought the sweets were poisoned and I'd end up like Hansel or Grettel) or that we shouldn't go and see puppies with them (I was petrified of dogs, so wouldn't have gone near, kittens mind you and I'd be off like a shot) and to run away and tell our parents.
Nothing was ever mentioned about family friends or relatives (statistically far more likely to abuse a child than a stranger snatching them from the street) or how we should tell someone if we were touched in a way we didn't like (regardless of who they were).
Meanwhile the real scandal of children being abused by those they knew, including care workers, teachers,ministers of religion and youth leaders went unchecked. These people weren't strangers to their victims, in many cases they were known and trusted by the young person and their parents, yet did them incalculable damage.
I don't like the current hysteria about paedophiles lurking on every corner, but at least today's children, seem to be better informed.
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AIBU?
AIBU to have only just realised that when I was warned about 'strangers' in the 1980s, they were actually talking about paedophiles.
44 replies
ComposHat · 23/07/2013 10:05
OP posts:
BeerTricksPotter ·
23/07/2013 10:46
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BeerTricksPotter ·
23/07/2013 10:54
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