Stranger Danger: How can we protect our kids?

Kids are both innocent and vulnerable

One time, I accompanied my cousin to another village. We were going to meet her classmate who had just returned from the city. Since the village is next to ours, I was happy to tag along.

When we arrived, the city girl served us white corn with boiled African pear on flat stainless plates. Soon, my cousin and her friend started chatting about school, boys and life.

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I was too young to join the conversation, so I focused on the German Shepherd that had just given birth to six cute puppies.

I lifted them in my arms, cooed and stroked their soft furs. It was during this enchanting moment that someone joined me. It was another friend of my cousin's, who had also come over after hearing that the city girl was visiting.

This new friend, whom I will call “Oyibo” because of their bright, fair skin, started asking me so many questions.

Oyibo wanted to know my age, where I live, about my parents, my school, in fact, everything! The young innocent me gave all these pieces of information away. Even adding jare (extra details) that were not necessary.

As evening approached, my cousin thanked her classmate for the lunch and said goodbye to her friends. I was sad to leave the dog and Oyibo, so the city girl told me not to worry —she would send me one puppy later.

Excited, I agreed to return home with my cousin. We chatted as we trekked back to our village. I told her everything that happened — the dog, her puppies, including my conversation with Oyibo. The parts I could remember though.

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She stopped right in her tracks when I said that I told Oyibo about my school and friends. She asked why I would disclose something sensitive to a complete stranger. I felt hurt.

“Oyibo is not a stranger. You two are friends nau. Aren't you?”

That day, she told me firmly, “Never judge a person by their appearance alone”.

Why kids need guidance

Many kids have this natural tendency to trust easily. They could meet a person today and “boom!” become friends. Of course, our parents warned us about talking to strangers. But it seems young people throw caution to the wind once they “log in” to those platforms.

They are excited to connect with others and would not mind having millions of “friends” on social media. With the level of cybercrimes rising every day, it becomes obvious that many young people are unaware of predators who disguise as friends in chats and on their newsfeeds.

This is why I believe that every parent and guardian should teach their kids the information they should NEVER share with strangers online.

These include their:

• home address or current location
• phone numbers, and names of family members
• school or favourite spots and people they hangout with
• parents’ names or occupations
• credit status
• daily routine or schedule
• password(s)
• personal photos or videos (especially private ones)
• personal conversations with others

Last month, a young girl's picture was digitally altered to ridicule her after she told an interviewer that she has never dated anyone. A boy manipulated one of her TikTok photos, adding his face to it, and claimed to be the boyfriend whom she just denied having. People dragged the girl online only to discover that it was a mere defamation. None of them knew each other.

But crazier things happen.

Strangers stalk kids social media accounts, pretend to be friends and ask sensitive questions like their age, parents’ occupation or pet's name just to identify any vulnerable spot they could take advantage of.

Other kids have fallen victims of love or romance shams, where someone approaches them online and next thing they are professing love up and down.

All these happen without their parents knowing.

We cannot monitor young people 24/7. That will be mentally and physically draining. However, we can teach them how to stay safe online.

_{Published 18 July 2025}