War fundamentally changes not only the geography of people’s lives, but also public security. What seemed like an obvious rule in peacetime becomes critical in wartime. One of these rules remains the warning of children against communication with strangers. In the realities of war, this risk increases many times, because unknown people can not just insult or intimidate, but use the child for purposes that pose a real threat to life and health. At a time when millions of Ukrainians have become refugees or displaced persons, when a child may find himself in a new place without the usual environment and stable control of adults, danger from strangers takes on new forms: from recruitment to exploitation, from fraud to direct crimes against the child.
Why the risks of communicating with strangers increased during war
During hostilities, the usual mechanisms of control and security are destroyed. A child can be left without parental supervision even for a short time – during an evacuation, at a train station, in a camp for displaced persons, in a new area of a big city or even near temporary housing. War causes changes in people’s behavior — fear, confusion, despair often force children to seek help from strangers, perceiving any gesture of attention as a rescue.
This is used by those who intend to cause harm:
- Scammers and child abductors may pose as volunteers, social workers or even other refugees.
- Recruiters lure children into criminal activities with promises of help, money or protection.
- Exploiters exploit the vulnerability of children for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
- Information manipulators via the Internet or in person affect the child’s psyche, encouraging them to take dangerous actions.
An additional risk is the use of war as an excuse to hide criminal activities: in chaos, against the background of constant displacement of people and changes of residence, it becomes much more difficult to discover the disappearance of a child or establish the identity of a criminal.
How children react to strangers and why it is dangerous
A child under stress behaves differently than in a calm time. She can:
- seek support from adults without judging their intentions;
- lose critical thinking due to fear, fatigue or hunger;
- agree to the offers of strangers faster than under normal circumstances;
- not to inform parents about contact with strangers, considering it unimportant or ashamed.
Therefore, the task of adults is not just to prohibit communication with strangers, but to explain why it is important and to teach algorithms of behavior in dangerous situations.
What must be explained to the child
In order for the child to be able to navigate independently in a difficult situation, parents should speak in advance and establish several key rules:
- No strangers have the right to ask the child for help. Adults turn to adults for help, not to children.
- Never go with a stranger, even if they say mom or dad sent them. Even if the person seems kind or offers something attractive (sweets, toys, the opportunity to call), the child should refuse and look for officially recognized adults (police, employees of official aid points).
- Do not take anything from strangers. Even if it seems like a gift or help.
- Do not tell strangers personal information – where you live, where you go, who you live with, what your plans are for the day.
- Notify parents or guardians immediately of any attempted contact by outsiders.
- In case of danger, call loudly for help and run to a crowded place.
These rules should be formulated in simple language, with examples from life, and regularly repeated, especially when changing residence or when evacuating.
Tips for parents: how to minimize risks
In addition to talking to the child, parents should take specific measures to increase safety:
- Always know where the child is and who is accompanying him. If the child is in classes, in a group or on a walk, you need to have contact with responsible adults.
- Constantly keep in touch with the child. If possible, a cell phone, a watch with an alarm function, or another means of instant messaging.
- Teach the child to remember important information: personal data, parents’ contacts, address of temporary housing.
- Agree on a “code word” that the child should ask the stranger if he says he came from his parents. If the word is incorrect, the child must run away immediately.
- Regular reminders of caution, not intimidating, but explaining the importance of self-safety.
- Pay attention to the psychological state of the child: withdrawal, mood changes, avoiding the topic of conversations about new acquaintances can be signals of a threat.
In a war situation, when children are forced to learn to survive in new conditions, these measures become not only preventive, but also vitally important.
Particular attention is paid to risks on the Internet
Due to the limitations of physical space, many children spend more time on the Internet — and there, too, strangers chat with them. Recruiting through social media, trying to establish contact for the purpose of exploitation or fraud are all real risks that only increase in times of war.
Parents have:
- check security settings in social networks and messengers;
- encourage open conversations about who the child communicates with online;
- explain that strangers on the Internet may not be who they say they are;
- set time limits on the use of gadgets for younger children.
In the conditions of war, when children lose their familiar security environment and are forced to adapt to a new reality, the responsibility for their protection lies not only with the police or social services, but primarily with parents.
Talking about stranger danger should become as natural an element of education as learning to cross the road on a green light. And it should be done not through intimidation, but through explanation, support and development of the skills of independent safe behavior.
Therefore, timely conversations, constant attentiveness of adults and trust in relationships with children can save lives.
