Stranger Danger

S2E7: Stranger Danger and 80s Childhood Propaganda

This month we're discussing the child safety panic of the 80s in the US and UK, the funny and the terrifying. Below are the audio version and the re-edited video of the live show, which originally aired 01 July, 2023.

References

Adams, C. (2023, June 24). Is the world more dangerous for kids than it was 30 years ago? Connect Savannah. https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/is-the-world-more-dangerous-for-kids-than-it-was-30-years-ago/Content?oid=2737349

An updated lead-crime roundup for 2018. (n.d.). Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/02/an-updated-lead-crime-roundup-for-2018/

BFI. (2009, October 8). Lonely Water (1973) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZWD2sDRESk

BFI. (2020). The lost art of the British public information film. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/lost-art-british-public-information-film#

Child Victims of Stereotypical Kidnappings Known to Law Enforcement in 2011 | Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (n.d.). Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/library/publications/child-victims-stereotypical-kidnappings-known-law-enforcement-2011

Christopher. (n.d.). United States Crime Rates 1960 t0 2019. https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

Ephemeralfilm. (2011, March 23). PLAY SAFE (1978) UK Public Information Film - New Transfer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JfnhABs9U

Govind, D., & Govind, D. (2021, June 28). ‘A Missing Kid Is Never Forgotten. No Matter How Long They’ve Been Gone’: How The FBI Handles Missing Children Cases - Biometrica Systems, Inc. Biometrica Systems, Inc. -. https://www.biometrica.com/a-missing-kid-is-never-forgotten-no-matter-how-long-theyve-been-gone-how-the-fbi-handles-missing-children-cases/

Hartzmark, B. G., & Tribune, S. T. (2021, August 9). ARE WE FILLING OUR CHILDREN WITH FEAR? Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-06-8601250245-story.html

Juzwiak, R. (2021, February 12). Half-True Crime: Why the Stranger-Danger Panic of the ’80s Took Hold and Refuses to Let Go. Jezebel. https://jezebel.com/half-true-crime-why-the-stranger-danger-panic-of-the-8-1845430801

Let Grow Takes a Look at Crime Statistics. (2023). Let Grow. https://letgrow.org/crime-statistics/

Marshall, G. (1988, October 20). CREATOR SAYS PUTTING MISSING CHILDREN ON CARTONS WORKED DESPITE CRITICISM. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/10/20/creator-says-putting-missing-children-on-cartons-worked-despite-criticism/99f5a30a-cbdf-4311-a496-fac05d517ab4/

Missing Children, Misleading Statistics | Office of Justice Programs. (n.d.). https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/missing-children-misleading-statistics

Palmer, B. (2012, April 20). Why Did Missing Children Appear on Milk Cartons? Slate Magazine. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/04/etan-patz-case-why-did-dairies-put-missing-children-on-their-milk-cartons.html

Pearn, J. (1981). Reducing the child accident toll: education concerning accidents risks, and their circumvention. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1754.1981.tb01916.x

Renfro, P. M. (2020). Stranger Danger: Family Values, Childhood, and the American Carceral State. Oxford University Press, USA.

Renfro, P. M. (2021, August 9). How Two Vanished Paperboys Changed the Face of the “Missing Kid” Forever. Slate Magazine. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/johnny-gosch-eugene-martin-stranger-danger-panic-milk-cartons.html

Rogers, J. (2018, February 15). Consider yourselves warned: public information films. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/25/stop-look-listen-public-information-films

Speri, A. (2019, November 13). The NYPD Kept an Illegal Database of Juvenile Fingerprints for Years. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2019/11/13/nypd-juvenile-illegal-fingerprint-database/

Staff, R. (2019, January 11). Kidnapped children make headlines, but abduction is rare in U.S. U.S. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wisconsin-missinggirl-data/kidnapped-children-make-headlines-but-abduction-is-rare-in-u-s-idUSKCN1P52BJ

Thelwell, B. E. (2016a, September 29). How common are child abductions in the UK? BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37504781

Thelwell, B. E. (2016b, September 29). How common are child abductions in the UK? BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37504781

Times, N. Y. (1983, February 22). FINGERPRINTING OF CHILDREN SPREADING. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/22/us/fingerprinting-of-children-spreading.html

Veritasium. (2022, April 22). The Man Who Accidentally Killed The Most People In History [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV3dnLzthDA

Watch Never Go with Strangers - BFI Player. (n.d.). BFI Player. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-never-go-with-strangers-1971-online

Welch, D. (2019). Protecting the People: The Central Office of Information and the Creation of the Nanny State 1946-2010.

Wendigoon. (2022, November 11). The Controversial Missing Children Milk Carton Program [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhsNinzPEb8