I recently became aware of a situation that bears repeating.  It involves two young children who found themselves lost in the woods and went to a house for help.

Two cousins, an eleven year old girl and an eight year old boy walked back into the woods on the family’s property to go play in their fort.  A while later the father received a phone call from the children that they had gotten lost and were at a house of someone who let them use the phone.

The father was obviously shaken by this event but relieved when he was reunited with the children.  He was also somewhat baffled that his daughter would go into a stranger’s home to use a phone.  This was a topic that they discussed repeatedly, and he was confident that his little princess was well versed in Stranger Danger.

She explained to her dad that they became twisted around in the woods and couldn’t find their way back.  They kept walking until they came to a road, found a house, knocked on the door and asked to use the phone.  It wasn’t until the little cousin walked into the house that the older girl felt responsible to go into the house to retrieve him.

All turned out well in this situation but it could have gone horribly wrong.  It also serves as a very real example that while you may be comfortable that your children know what to do or not to do with regard to interaction with strangers, children are not as equipped to make the best choices in the event of an unexpected occurrence – such as the cousin walking into the stranger’s house.

What could the children have done differently?

1. Once they realized they were lost, they should have just stayed put.  Their loved ones would have realized they were gone longer than anticipated and then went to their last known locale to find them.  On the rare chance they remained unfound by nightfall they should have advance knowledge of wilderness survival skills, such as covering up with leaves to keep warm. Above all else – stop walking further away; sit and wait to be rescued.
2. The young girl did the right thing by asking to use a phone, knew which phone numbers to call and stayed outside.  She knew that.  It wasn’t until the young cousin went into the house that the girl went in to retrieve him.  This is sweet that she was taking care of her little cousin and knew he shouldn’t be in there, though she should have yelled to him from outside the home.  Using her outside voice she should have called out “Johnny! Come back out here … NOW!”  Little Johnny hopefully would have high tailed it outside of the home.

What could the parent have done differently?

1. The parent could have ensured that the children had a cell phone with them.  Granted, eight and eleven is too young to need a cell phone, by many parents’ standards, however they could have taken a two-way radio or borrowed Dad’s cell phone while they were out at the fort.
2. It’s hard to foresee every unanticipated scenario.  I don’t know if I would have had the forethought to even consider this particular situation (little cousin walking into the home).  Though it’s a nice reminder to not once, but often, talk about Stranger Danger with your children, and to discuss some wacky what-if scenarios.  He could have fun with it – making some valid “What would you do if” situations, and then throwing in some absurd and silly ones, all to make a memorable point.

Fortunately this situation turned out to be nothing more than a teachable moment.  For many other parents, their reality is that they’re still waiting for their children to come home or worse, they’ve had to bury a child.

For more information on Ten Ways Parents Can Keeps Kids Safe this Summer, visit www.missingkids.com