Catechist participation in circle of grace

[Horton]

If it really doesn’t have stranger danger elements to it then why would they feel the need to say that? I bet it has stranger danger elements to it.

If you don’t know the program you have no way knowing what it does contain. I use it in my program in my parish and am very familiar with it’s contents. It is in no way harmful to kids in any way.

 

[otjm]

But I can assure you that the stranger danger teaching of the past, which I received as a child, is garbage. If you like it then have at it.

When I started high school, some of my classmates and I would catch a ride with one of two priests who taught at the Catholic high school. It didn’t take me long to figure out why one of the two made me really uncomfortable, and I changed to the other priest’s car.

23 years later that first priest was convicted and sent to jail. I consider “stranger danger” to be a necessary matter taught to children, age appropriate. I am more than happy to stand by my comments.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

I’m guessing that there are plenty of people who received stranger danger training as a child who were taken advantage of. They weren’t taken advantage of by strangers though. I’m not sure that who does the abusing even matters though. The abuse in the Church didn’t stop because the things that were being taught to children was so much better, it was the public outrage because the Church couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. So I doubt the effectiveness of these kinds of programs are all that people think they are. That being said, I think it’s appropriate to teach kids boundaries in school. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

From what I remember it was the Adam Walsh story in the early 80’s that sent parents across the country into a dizzy. All of sudden there was a great fear among the public about finding their kid in the woods with their head cut off. Then Mr. Walsh went on a crusade probably doing just as much damage as he did good. Not a fan of that kind of activism. He basically went around trying to convince everyone that their kids were in constant danger and t just a matter of time before they wonder off from you in a crowd, and poof their being kidnapped, tortured, molested, and slaughtered like an animal.

 

[otjm]

The abuse in the Church didn’t stop because the things that were being taught to children was so much better, it was the public outrage because the Church couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. So I doubt the effectiveness of these kinds of programs are all that people think they are.

That is arguing that because there are no reports of children avoiding priests, no children avoided priests.

Which is a polite way of saying because you personally have no evidence of something, that something never occurred.

I gave one instance of avoiding a priest - which was never reported in any publication until now.