Experts on crimes against children say that old advice may be as harmful as no advice at all. Make sure your child knows the 10 new ways to stay safe.

A 7-year-old girl got off the school bus and headed for home, just down the end of the road. She was across the street from her house at the entrance to a large playground, when a man walking his dogs approached her and said hello in a pleasant, friendly way.

"Hi," she replied.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Emily." She responded.

"Come here and pet my dogs," he offered. "Where do you live?"

At this point in the story about child safety, you might expect to hear that the girl fell for a lure often used by paedophiles, was kidnapped, and was never seen again. Instead, Emily turned and ran home and told her mom, Janita, exactly what has happened.

The next day, Janita, stationed herself in front of the house to keep an eye on her daughter as she walked home. There was probably nothing wrong in what had happened the previous day, but she just wanted to be sure. She watched as a dark-blue Mazda drove up next to Emily. She saw Emily skittishly back away from the car and then, when the driver pulled off, cross the street yelling, "That's him."

When Emily explained that she recognized the driver as the dog walker who had approached her in the playground, her mother thought about calling the police. "But I didn't want to falsely accuse someone," the 34-year-old nurse says. "He just smiled at her. She didn't get close enough for him to say anything."

The following day, Janita drove to pick her daughter up at the bus stop. On the way home, they noticed the blue Mazda once again. Later that afternoon, one of Emily's friends told her that the driver had asked her to get in the car, but she had refused. When Janita heard that, she called the police. She told them about the three encounters, and remarkably.

Courtesy from Parenthood Magazine (25 January 2002)