Social Safety for Young Children

Abstract

Young children in today's society may find themselves in situations that require appropriate action in order to avoid dire consequences, such as injury or death. These situations may be the result of contact with objects in the physical environment such as guns, knives, or toxins. In other cases, children may be faced with confronting dangers in the social environment, such as avoiding the lures of strangers or responding to the abuse or neglect of a caregiver. Although safety education programs are implemented frequently in school settings, few research studies have systematically evaluated the methodology for teaching safety skills to young children. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the empirical literature related to social safety skills instruction for young children with and without disabilities. Findings are classified into two groups: lures of strangers and sexual abuse. Implications for future research are discussed.