May 25 is National Missing Children's Day, which came about after the disappearance of Etan Patz, Adam Walsh, and 29 kids in Atlanta. Read their stories on the National Missing Children's website. In honour of National Missing Children's Day, we're going to look at one of the most outdated child safety tips.

“Don't Talk to Strangers." It's a rule that many of us had drilled into us by our parents and educators, and a rule that we may have taught our own kids.  

“What happens when a child who has been told not to talk to strangers becomes lost - he is going to go with anyone who does not resemble a creepy, scary stranger,” says Samantha Wilson, founder and president of Kidproof. “But, because predators come guised in many different ways – and are usually quite approachable – a scared and desperate child is the perfect target. Rather than teaching children not to talk to strangers, you want to teach them that not all strangers are bad, and that there are far more people who will help them than hurt them.”

Here are tips from Samantha on how you can help your child determine who is safe and who is not:

*Empower your children with self-confidence and trust in their ability to sense when something is just not right. It doesn't matter whether they can articulate it; they just have to feel it. And the best way to learn about someone, even in a very short time, is by talking.

*Change 'Don't talk to strangers' to 'Never go anywhere, with anyone, without asking permission first.' This rule applies to everyone and every situation. It includes friends, family, neighbours, and of course strangers.

Kidproof's Stranger Smarts course will help your child learn preventative, proactive ways to make safe choices when approached by strangers.

Read about four more outdated safety tips and how you can update your child's safety education in Safe Kids, Safe Families.