Stranger Danger
Stranger danger is a concept warning that all strangers can potentially be dangerous. The phrase originated in the 1960s and is intended to encapsulate the danger associated with adults whom children do not know. The phrase found widespread usage in the United States and United Kingdom in 1979 with high profile child abduction case Etan Patz, who was the first of many photos of missing children to appear on a milk carton. Many books, films, and public service announcements have been devoted to helping children remember this advice.
Although there are other dangers such as kidnapping for ransom, the main threat with which stranger danger campaigns are concerned is child sexual abuse. Portrayals in the news media have tended to reinforce public fears of strangers as potential pedophiles, despite sexual abuse of children being more likely to occur in families. In the early 2000s the emphasis of such campaigns shifted somewhat, to reflect the risk of abuse by persons known to the child.
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