Growing up in the 80's: 'Latch Key' and scare tactics

In an email today, a friend of mine mentioned a particular fear he has and I asked him where that fear stems from. He chocked it up to his having been a 'latch key' kid growing up.

For those not familiar with the predominantly 80's coined phrase, 'latch key' kids were those who came home from school to an empty house (hence, they needed a 'key' to get in the house because their parents weren't home) and/or a semi-reliable babysitter to supervise the child while said parents were at work. Sometimes a 'latch key' kid could be an effect of workaholic parents. In most cases, it was the result of single parenthood. In my case, it could have been a little bit of both.

Of course, in 2008 it is not abnormal. The term has likely become obsolete in the face of 'nontraditional' households where it's more abnormal for parents to be home than not. But keep in mind, this was the 1980's. Divorce and blended families were not as commonplace as they are today. Back then, such atypical events could even sometimes be perceived as scandalous, borderline taboo.

I'm not sure the story behind my friend's 'latch key' experience growing up. If it was at all like mine, one thing is for certain. The common denominator was: FEAR. "Don't take any stickers from anyone!" my grandmother would tell me. Why? Well, if you have to lick the back of the sticker for it to work...it just might well be LSD! I think I was 9 or 10 years old when my grandmother used that scare tactic on me.

Then there was the kidnapping craze. I was living in New Hampshire at the time, but I'm pretty sure it was a nationwide 'epidemic.' Kids were seemingly 'snatched up' everywhere you turned (aka, sensationalized on the news). Parents became hyper-vigilant, doing whatever they could to ensure safety. For my mother, it was the 'stranger' book (bless her heart, she meant well). Did anyone else get one of these in the 80's?! This was the scariest book I've ever encountered in my life thus far. I'm not exaggerating whatsoever!

I wish I still had the book now, as a 30 year old woman. It would be funny to see just how 'scary' it is to my 30 year old eyes versus that of a 7 to 9 year old. The front cover of the book is still embedded ever so vividly in my mind. The title escapes me (although I want to say it was something like "Never Talk to Strangers") but here's the cover: A black and white photo of an 8 year old-ish boy with dark hair. He's holding an ice cream cone, in mid lick as he stares back at the reader with a serious, yet unsuspecting look. See what I mean? Creepy.

Within the book were different hypothetical scenarios of the various manipulative tactics evil strangers use (or what we in the psych field like to term 'grooming' which is even more smarmy sounding if you ask me), to lure innocent children into their car and/or far far away from the latch key land that is their home.

One scenario might be little Susie walking home from school. A middle aged man in an Oldsmobile slowly pulls up (always with no one else around, of course) to Susie, whom has a Strawberry Shortcake backpack on her back. His window is down because it's summer and this was before automatic buttons were standard features offered in cars. Middle aged man leans over and says something sweet to little Susie. Somehow, candy always seems to be the luring device. When did kids start acting like mice who salivate at the prospect of sweets? Anyway, so the story goes. You can see where this is going.

I guess it wasn't the bogus scenarios presented in the book that scared me most. It was the mock pictures that freaked me out. I think they even induced some nightmares. I don't know why the pictures bothered me more. Maybe they made the concept more real of a possibility in my youthful imagination.

As if stepping off the school bus, walking home alone and into an empty house isn't scary enough for a young child.....adding scary 'strangers' to the mix just invites a future anxiety disorder for an 80's child!

At what point does a psychoeducational tool like warning your child about the perils of 'evil' people out there or 'bad' stickers do more harm than good? I wonder.

I especially wonder how many other children of the 80's experienced something similar. Do share, but don't scare. :)