My son is 3 years old. He is extremely friendly to everyone. He goes up to strangers and talks to them like he knows them. I have tried talking to my son about strangers, but it doesn't seem to register. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please help!
There is a great DVD for teaching about stranger safety called The Safe Side. My kids love it and we really needed it as our oldest son had never met a stranger. :>S
Ships from Lone Tree, CO!
J.
Your son is exhibiting normal 3 year old behavior. I can remember my kids doing the same thing. Isn't it great that he hasn't learned to be afraid of people!
It seems to me that at that age children are practically always with a parent (unless they are in daycare). Have you tried by making a firm rule: "You must always ask permission to talk to anyone besides mom, dad, or teacher."
When he decides to get social at the park or grocery store, remind him of the rule. "I am glad you are making friends, but you must always ask mommy before you talk to a new friend."
Remind him before you go, "While we are at the store, you might see some nice people. Remember you must always ask mom (or dad, whichever is going) before you talk to other grownups."
or... "If there are other kids at the park today, you can talk to them. But, you have to stay where you can see me and you must always ask me first if you want to meet your new friend's mom and dad."
We told our kids "stay where you can see me" rather than "stay where I can see you". How are THEY supposed to know if you can see them?! We also taught them that it was their job to stay with us at stores and other errands--not our job to stay with them. (Although we did, of course, try to do that too!)
You could also check the library for appropriate age books, videos, etc that deal with that and other safety issues. Stories are a great way to introduce potential dangerous situations and discuss how to handle them.
I'm in the same boat. I have a 3-year old daughter that believes everyone is her friend. She talks to everyone and is quite independent. I've told her that some people are not nice and can do bad things to kids. I don't go into detail. I don't think she really understands and I don't want to scare her, so I just keep a close eye on her when we go out in public. I remind her frequently that she needs to stay close to me.
My oldest daughter liked to talk to everyone too. She's 8 yrs old now, and she does understand about the dangers of strangers finally.
There are some other methods to consider as well, but I think to make sure he knows who a "good" stranger is would be very important. Kids generally think that a stranger is a specific person that they are not seeing because their picture in their head isn't real, so introducing this type of thinking will let him know that a stranger could be anyone.
