Stranger Danger!

Red flags from the literary and pop culture side.

• Arnold Friend admits to having stalked her.
  -He wants her to do what he says and gets aggressive when she declines.
  -When he is mad he "jokes" about harming her and her family.
  -He dresses like a teenager and talks about things that appeal to her age level when he is old enough to be Connie's father.

• Luke Redmond desensitizes Abby and tries to make her grow up too fast and change the way she is.

• He makes her grades drop and doesn't really care about her over all well-being.
• Luke tells Abby to meet up with him and then he steals her, traumatizing her and making her lose her identity and self appreciation.

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Is there such thing as a friendly and safe stranger?

• He grooms her as well, makes her feel like he is the only one who knows everything about her. Also admits to stalking her!
• "Gonna get you, baby!"
• He lures people in by feeding on what they want the most, in Connie's case it was love and attention.

Signs of a sexual predator from this pop cultural book

• Luke makes her feel like an equal unlike her family.
• Sends her expensive gifts to lure her into sending him a nude photo before they met.
• He grooms her. He is the "only one who understands me."

This songs echoes in the background of "Where are you going and where have you been?" the entire time you are reading it, so entrancing.

"A predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" for his or her sex partners."

Just like many things in life, time doesn't change them much! Sexual predators and scary strangers have always existed. "Where are you going and where have you been?" was set in a time frame earlier than the book "Want to go private?" and yet they have many similarities when it comes to peoples temperament. Teens all feel misunderstood, you are always told not to talk to strangers, and more importantly sexual predators all want the same thing and have the same drive in life.

child safety, abduction, safety lessons, kidnapping, stranger danger