Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Bruce Morris is shown with preschool students at St. Boniface Elementary, where he recently presented the crime prevention program “Dangers of Strangers.”

By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff

    McGruff the Crime Dog and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Bruce Morris have teamed up throughout the year to provide a variety of crime prevention programs.

Among those programs are many geared toward area youngsters such as dangers of strangers, seat belt and bicycle safety.

    On Wednesday afternoon, Trooper Morris visited St. Boniface Elementary’s preschool class. Students viewed a video featuring McGruff and his nephew Scruff McGruff about the dangers of strangers.

    Following the video, Trooper Morris reviews numerous scenarios students may find themselves in.

    Students learned how to identify a stranger - a person whom they have never met - how to be aware of potentially

dangerous situations, trusting their instincts and sticking with friends. Knowing what to do when a youngster encounters a

threatening stranger is imperative. One method is the “No, go, yell and tell” lesson. If children find themselves in dangerous

situations, they should say no, run away, yell as loud as they can, and tell a trusted adult what happened right away.

    Children should always ask their parents before going anywhere with a stranger. Children see strangers every day in stores, at the park, and in their neighborhoods. Most of these strangers are nice, normal people, but a few may not be.

    There are also safe strangers, who are people children can ask for help when they need it such as police officers, firefighters, teachers, principals, and librarians.

    Parents can protect their children from dangerous strangers by teaching them about strangers and suspicious behavior, and by taking a few precautions of their own.

    Parents should know where their children are at all times, point out safe places to go when in trouble, teach children to trust their instincts and to be assertive and encourage children to play with other children.

    McGruff the Crime Dog helps reach children through commercials, songs, videos and booklets about such topics as drugs, bullying, safety, the importance of staying in school. Most recently McGruff has been addressing the issue of identity theft - a new campaign launched in 2005 in honor of his 25th birthday.

    With his motto “Take A Bite Out of Crime”, McGruff is world famous for his advice on how to stop crime before it happens. McGruff often enlists the help of Scruff in showing children how they can stay safe.

    As the PSP’s Community Services and Media Relations Office, Trooper Morris conducts over 100 crime prevention programs throughout the year within a three county radius including Elk, Clearfield and McKean counties as well as northern Jefferson County. Teen programs focus on internet safety while adult programs range from identity theft and general theft prevention.