History Main / TooSmartForStrangers

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj4ak2WpLFM This]] sexual abuse video, complete with an actor who plays his DirtyOldMan role a little ''too'' well. At least the boy isn't ambiguous about "bad touch" and says the word "penis".

[[strike: Sometimes]] ''Guaranteed'' to be [[NightmareFuel utterly uncomfortable]], as happy-go-lucky, fun-loving characters are [[CluelessAesop forced to deal]] with a truly horrifying eventuality. [[YourMileageMayVary May]] have the side effect of making some children [[ParanoiaFuel unbelievably paranoid]], especially if they themselves have had it happen by someone they know and trust. And Heaven have mercy on your psyche [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel if the writers decide to disregard]] [[ScareEmStraight the "don't scare the crap out of the kids" part.]]

* In Chapter 1 of Volume 1 of ''[[{{Yotsuba}} Yotsuba&!]]'', Yotsuba has gotten lost. Her next-door neighbor Fuuka, whom she has just met, has offered to walk her home. Yotsuba soon remembers her father's advice on not going with strangers and proceeds to run away from her with no explanation, screaming "Help me!" whilst Fuuka gives chase.

* A book about sex marketed to young people titled "It's Perfectly Normal" took a light and humorous approach to almost everything about sex using non threatening cartoons to illustrate masturbation, homosexuality, conception etc. The chapter on child molestation gets a bit more serious. No cartoons other than the two animal mascots admitting that this is a difficult subject to discuss. Still, at least it's not a CluelessAesop.

* Similar to the [[{{Yotsuba}} Yotsuba&!]] example above, near the end of the book ''The Year My Parents Ruined My Life,'' Katie decides to run away from her new home and attempts to fly back to California by herself. She decides to hitchhike to the airport, and is already sitting in a car with a man and wearing her seat-belt by the time she realizes it may not have been a good idea to take a ride with a stranger. Her fears are only amplified when she notices he's taking a different route and hears him say "I may need to zigzag." He quickly realizes that Katie's afraid of him and thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

* In the game ''Game/EvilGenius'', when you successfully kidnap someone from America, you hear a radio announcement about the crime, which includes advice that people steps "such as not taking candy from strangers."

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj4ak2WpLFM This]] sexual abuse video, complete with an actor who plays his DirtyOldMan role a little ''too'' well. At least he isn't ambiguous about "bad touch" and says the word "penis".

* In Chapter 1 of Volume 1 of ''[[{{Yotsuba}} Yotsuba&!]]'', Yotsuba has gotten lost, and Fuka, who she has just met, has offered to walk her home. Yotsuba soon remembers her father's advice on not going with strangers, and proceeds to run away from her with no explanation, screaming "help me!" whilst Fuka gives chase.

*** Let's not forget the delicious irony that it is suggested you talk about bad touching to a ''priest''...

*** Let's not forget the delicious irony that it is suggested you talk about bad touching to ''your priest''...

->''"Kids, there's nothing more cool than being hugged by someone you like. But if someone tries to touch you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's '''no''' good! It's your body. No one has the right to touch you if you don't want them to. So what do you do? First, you say 'No!' Then, you get outta there! Most important, you gotta tell someone you trust, like your parents, your teacher, a police officer."''

** Actually the Aesop was "don't go skiing alone, because if you get hurt, no one will be there to help you" but they have used this trope in at least 2 episodes

* ''SouthPark'' parodied it of course, with a counselor asked if Father Maxi had stuck anything up the kids' butts. The counselor avoided the word "penis" though, asking if he had stuck anything "of his" up there, which just confused them.

** There are at least two other episodes of ''SouthPark'' that [[IncrediblyLamePun touch on]] the subject, but the closest to this trope is probably "Child Abduction Is Not Funny". Tweek is nearly abducted by a man who dresses up as the Spirit of Human Kindness and tries to convince him that these sorts of morals are just paranoia. ([[FridgeBrilliance And they partly are...]]) Later, Tweek's parents kick him out of the house for his own safety(!?) -- after hearing on the news that parents are most likely to abduct their own children.

->''Kids, there's nothing more cool than being hugged by someone you like. But if someone tries to touch you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's '''no''' good! It's your body. No one has the right to touch you if you don't want them to. So what do you do? First, you say 'No!' Then, you get outta there! Most important, you gotta tell someone you trust, like your parents, your teacher, a police officer.''

* The TropeNamer: ''Too Smart For Strangers'', a late-eighties Disney Channel special production spun off from ''Welcome To Pooh Corner'', where WinnieThePooh and rest of the Hundred Acre Wood crew (of all people) teach children how to not get abducted and subsequently molested. Grade-A NightmareFuel on the hoof. Particularly infamous for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJg-jliyhXA this scene]], which directly addresses child molestation and how to react to it. In ''song''.

** Less well-known, but no less awkward, is a [=PSA=] starring He-Man and She-Ra of all people. It really brings the awkward when it acknowledges that kids are abused by people they know already.

** There are at least two other episodes of ''SouthPark'' that touch on the subject, but the closest to this trope is probably "Child Abduction Is Not Funny". Tweek is nearly abducted by a man who dresses up as the Spirit of Human Kindness and tries to convince him that these sorts of morals are just paranoia. ([[FridgeBrilliance And they partly are...]]) Later, Tweek's parents kick him out of the house for his own safety(!?) -- after hearing on the news that parents are most likely to abduct their own children.

* On ''[[ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'', when Kathy Geiss put the moves on Jack, he recounted it Liz saying "she touched me in my swimsuit area" and "it made me very uncomfortable".

* A book about sex marketed to young people titled "It's Perfectly Normal" took a light and humorous approach to almost everything about sex using non threatening cartoons to illustrate masturbation, homosexuality, conception etc. The chapter on child molestation gets a bit more serious. No cartoons other than the two animal mascots admitting that this is a difficult subject to discuss. Still, it got the point across more than any of these other examples.

* A book about sex marketed to young people titled "It's Perfectly Normal" took a light and humorous approach to almost everything about sex using non threatening cartoons to illustrate masturbation, homosexuality, conception etc. The chapter on child molestation gets a bit more serious. No cartoons other than the two animal mascots admitting that this is a difficult subject to discuss.

It's also worth noting that in the vast majority of child kidnappings and sexual abuse cases the abuser is someone the child knows and trusts, usually because they have easy access to the child and, in custody cases (which are almost all kidnappings) the kidnapper has something to gain by kidnapping the child. The fact that this Aesop is based on faulty information renders it almost entirely useless.

[[strike: Sometimes]] ''Guaranteed'' to be [[NightmareFuel utterly uncomfortable]], as happy-go-lucky, fun-loving characters are [[CluelessAesop forced to deal]] with a truly horrifying eventuality. [[YourMileageMayVary May]] have the side effect of making some children [[ParanoiaFuel unbelievably paranoid]], especially if they themselves have had it happen by someone they know and trust.

** There was also a book release titled ''Don't Talk to Strangers, Pooh'' that came out in 1998. It was part of a series called "My Very First Winnie the Pooh." This one, however, didn't really contain any Nightmare Fuel elements.

[[striken:Sometimes]] ''Guaranteed'' to be [[NightmareFuel utterly uncomfortable]], as happy-go-lucky, fun-loving characters are [[CluelessAesop forced to deal]] with a truly horrifying eventuality. [[YourMileageMayVary May]] have the side effect of making some children [[ParanoiaFuel unbelievably paranoid]], especially if they themselves have had it happen by someone they know and trust.

Of course, being childrens' TV shows, they have to discuss it in a way that's easy to understand, but without being scary -- which usually just ends up [[CluelessAesop being awkward]]. ''Really'' awkward. They can't mention any of the "worst" crimes (e.g., molestation) by name, so they generally stick to just kidnapping or "being touched in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable" (and, all together now, [[AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog that's nooooo good]]). Expect the most graphic euphemisms you can get onto suitable-for-all-ages television, such as "bathing suit area."

Sometimes [[NightmareFuel vaguely uncomfortable]], as happy-go-lucky, fun-loving characters are [[CluelessAesop forced to deal]] with a truly horrifying eventuality. [[YourMileageMayVary May]] have the side effect of making some children [[ParanoiaFuel unbelievably paranoid]], especially if they themselves have had it happen by someone they know and trust.

* The TropeNamer: ''Too Smart For Strangers'', a late-eighties Disney Channel special production spun off from ''Welcome To Pooh Corner'', where WinnieThePooh and rest of the Hundred Acre Wood crew (of all people) teach children how to not get abducted and subsequently molested. Grade-A NightmareFuel on the hoof. Particularly infamous for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJg-jliyhXA this scene]], which directly addresses child molestation and how to react to it and in ''song''.

* There was a [[VerySpecialEpisode Very Special Comic Book]] starring ''{{Spider-Man}}'' in which his next-door-neighbor kid was being molested by his (female) babysitter, in which Spidey shares that ''he'' was molested, pre superpowers, [[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/superhero2.jpg by someone who looked suspiciously like Uncle Ben]]. Spidey never references or even acknowledges this story in any other continuity, but can you really blame him?

** Yes, it really existed. There was a song called "Never Talk To Strangers" and an adaptation of a fairy tale to reinforce the message (I think it was Little Red Riding Hood; she manages to run away and tell a grown-up).

* The TV version of ''TheBerenstainBears'' story is actually a bit more nuanced. The BumblingDad decides to ScareEmStraight, until Sister Bear is reduced to a terrified wreck who doesn't want to come out of her room. The CloserToEarth mother (as always) has to reassure Sister Bear that there are dangerous strangers out there, but you can't be paranoid like that.

** Less well-known, but no less awkward, is a [=PSA=] starring He-Man and She-Ra of all people.

** actually the aesop was "don't go skiing alone, becuase if you get hurt, no one will be there to help you" but they have used this trope in at least 2 episodes

** There are at least two other episodes of ''SouthPark'' that touch on the subject, but the closest to this trope is probably "Child Abduction Is Not Funny" wherein Tweek is nearly abducted by a man who dresses up as the Spirit of Human Kindness and tries to convince him that these sorts of morals are just paranoia.
*** [[FridgeBrilliance And they partly are...]]
* And, of course, who can forget "Sexual Harassment Panda"? ("When I see one little panda pulling down another little panda's underpants, [[MemeticMutation that makes me a saaaad panda]]!") Naturally, the kids grossly misinterpret his lessons to the point where anything a friend does that they don't like counts as "sexual harassment," and this eventually leads to a rash of time-consuming lawsuits. In the end, the mascot is forced to change his name to "Don't Sue People Panda."

* And, of course, who can forget "Sexual Harassment Panda"? ("When I see one little panda pulling down another little panda's underpants, that makes me a saaaad panda!") Naturally, the kids grossly misinterpret his lessons to the point where anything a friend does that they don't like counts as "sexual harassment," and this eventually leads to a rash of time-consuming lawsuits. In the end, the mascot is forced to change his name to "Don't Sue People Panda."