Action Against Abduction - Clever Never Goes

"For 50 years we’ve been warning our children about ‘stranger danger’. Yet most strangers won’t harm children, and many people that do pose a risk to children are not strangers. Today’s children live in an increasingly shielded world. They spend less time playing outdoors and moving about independently (for example walking to school) fuelling a rise in childhood obesity and mental health problems.

Safety which simply curtails children’s independence becomes toxic, depriving them of the emotional intelligence, creativity and problem-solving skills that are vital to their development and, ironically, will actually keep them safe.

Clever Never Goes is created to give parents, teachers, police and other professionals an effective alternative to ‘stranger danger’ based on the simple message that children shouldn’t go with anyone unless it has been arranged beforehand. Rather than fearing the worst in everyone they don’t know, Clever Never Goes helps children to recognise specific situations that are unsafe and gives them the tools to respond. It’s designed to be positive, practical, playful and – above all else – to keep things in perspective.

Clever Never Goes aims to keep children safe. But it’s also about building children’s abilities to engage with the outside and online worlds, and giving parents the confidence to let them" From Clever Never Goes