This afternoon Billie and I went for a walk after 3:00 pm. I wanted to check if the stuffed animals were still at the end of the street (they were) and to let Billie run. After she had a good run we headed into Concordia Park.
When we crossed the bridge we met two young girls. They asked to pet my dog, so I stopped. They then told me that two bigger girls had been hassling them. In fact, a third bigger child had joined the first two and were they were headed in our direction. Emma and Abby were scared. They asked if I would walk with them. So I did.
I misunderstood where they lived — they didn’t want to tell me exactly, because I was a stranger. They’d been warned about “stranger danger” but decided that I was OK. Anyway I led them back toward the west end of Avalon, the opposite direction from home, as it turned out. The bigger kids followed us for awhile, but then disappeared. Emma wanted to play in the park but Abby wanted to go home. They asked if I could stay with them in the park, but just then Emma’s iPhone timer sounded — it was time for them to go home. They still wanted me to stay with them (“can we pretend you are our grandma?”), so I walked back with them to Stirling Ave. Then they felt safe to go the rest of the way home.
I thought it was interesting that “stranger danger” has been ingrained when kids are more likely to be hurt by someone they know. [How do you teach a child to be safe within their own family/environment?] I wonder why they decided they could trust me. [How do you know whom to trust? Is a person with a pet more likely to be kind?] I also found that they loved to scare themselves. [Because of this was there really anything to fear from these bigger kids?] They told me about many things they’d been scared of in the last 24 hours, from sleeping in the basement (“I thought I was going to die”) to smelling smoke and decided someone was burning a body!
I commend their parents for giving these ten-year-olds the freedom to explore their environment — they obviously were not well acquainted with the area, especially the forest and park. And they did have a phone, I’m sure they could have called for help if they really needed it. I’m glad they were able to approach a stranger and give voice to both their discomfort and a solution and ask for my help.
O God, protect those two very sweet girls!
