Guest Author - Michelle Taylor

The first few words in the product description of this DVD are these;
“A message from John Walsh: I'm the host of a television show that I wish wasn't needed. But it is.”

Many of you will recognize John Walsh from the television show “America’s Most Wanted”. What you may not know about him is that the reason he got started in trying to catch criminals is that his 6 year old son Adam went missing in 1981. Only his head was ever found. It was a parent’s worst nightmare come true.

But instead of collapsing under his grief, John Walsh was determined to keep other children safe, and has dedicated his life to catching deadly criminals and educating other parents on how to keep their own children safe.

Thus we have the DVD The Safe Side: Stranger Safety.

We were actually given this DVD for Christmas a few years back when my youngest son was about 3. A friend knew my son was extremely UN-shy, and thought this video might be a good idea for him. It was! He would play it over and over again, thinking it was funny, and laughing at all the goofy things, but he was actually learning, too.

John Walsh got together with Julie Clark, the creator of the award winning children’s videos Baby Einstein to come up with a way to help teach younger children about stranger safety. Because up until this point, young children would often get very confusing messages from their parents:
“Don’t ever, EVER speak to a stranger”
“Billy! Why don’t you say ‘hello’ to the gentleman, it is rude to not speak back”
“Don’t ever accept candy from a stranger”
“Of course he can have a lollipop, how sweet of you!”

And then we wonder why our munchkins are so easily abducted. They can’t tell the difference between “situations”. They do know they like candy, that man is speaking really nicely to them, and a puppy sure would be lots of fun to play with (especially since mommy is mad at us today, and won’t let us do anything).

So now we introduce “The Safe Side” a series of videos geared towards children and teaching them how to behave safely. “Stranger Safety” has a host called the “Safe Side Superchick”. She’s energetic, funny, very colorful, and extremely engaging for the kids. She introduces the idea of personal safety and how to act around strangers and what the video terms “kinda strangers” (like soccer coaches and next door neighbors). She makes these points almost like a game. It is not scary, it is fun, but at the end of each lesson she slows it down and talks directly to the child watching the video to drive home the point of each lesson whether it is; do not get in the car with a stranger, don’t open the door when you are home alone, don’t talk to strangers if you are by yourself, etc.

She also teaches kids to be aware of their surroundings, to make sure they know where their “safe adult” is at all times (in case they need to yell for them), to come up with a “safety word” with their parents so that if someone else ever says they are picking them up from school or the park – they have to say the “safety word” or else their parents did not really send them. Lots of little great tips that law enforcement knows about, but we normal parents may not.

And it is all done in a way to help kids remember the tips without making them frightened of the world around them.

And just to add one more bonus, the proceeds from the video are used for a great cause. From their mission statement: “The Safe Side is dedicated to making kids safer. In addition to publishing programs for kids and parents, the Company donates 10% of gross proceeds from distribution to The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children.”

While you can purchase the video on Amazon or at Wal-Mart or Target, I would really like to urge you to check out The Safe Side Website and make your purchse from there. Not only because of their donations to charity, but also because their kits have some extra goodies in them like a safety whistle, Safety ID kit, etc.

But no matter where you purchase this video, it will be worth it.