Too Smart for Strangers: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"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, [[Memetic Mutation|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."''|'''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Franchise)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''', ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Animation)|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''}}

* Supposedly, there was an episode of ''[[Barney and Friends (TV)|Barney and Friends]]'' that discussed the topic -- a necessary back-pedalling from one listed under [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]], which said that every stranger was a potential friend. Yes, it really existed. There was a song called "Never Talk To Strangers" and an adaptation of a fairy tale to reinforce the message (possibly ''Little Red Riding Hood'' of course; she manages to run away and tell a grown-up).

* There were a couple of ''[[Diffrent Strokes (TV)|Diffrent Strokes]]'' episodes that were like this.

** And don't forget that episode where the bike store owner [[Family Guy (Animation)|wants the kids to scream real loud at his ass]].

* The trope is referenced in an early episode of ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'', where the "Stranger Danger" programme is mentioned as probably being the single biggest enemy of child abduction cases in America, because after it was disseminated research showed that strangers were probably responsible for a minority of kidnapping cases. Far more often the abductor was friends, family, neighbours or someone at least associated with the family or child. {{spoiler|In this case, it was a local gardener who lived a few blocks away.}}

* The [[Trope Namer]]: the episode "Too Smart for Strangers" of ''Welcome to Pooh Corner'', a mid-'80s production where [[Winnie the Pooh (Franchise)|Winnie the Pooh]] and rest of the Hundred Acre Wood crew (of all people) teach children how to not get abducted and subsequently molested. 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''.

* ''Tricky People'', a 1998 video produced by Nest Entertainment, is a rather serious PSA about sexual abuse and stranger danger... which stars a silly yellow [[Barney and Friends (TV)|Barney-esque]] dinosaur named Yello Dyno. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1qGYdlH8k4 Watch] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YfoIEPIaQY it] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcDqb9rZ3VE here] (with snarky annotations).

* And then there's that infamous ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Animation)|Sonic Says]]'' quoted above...

* A ''[[Care Bears (Franchise)|Care Bears]]'' episode (partially included [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gDLG5SpPec here]) went for the related message of "don't go out in public without an adult". Bright Heart disobeys Champ Bear and goes down to Earth by himself. The message is undermined by the fact that the "danger" he encounters comes in the form of Shreeky (who, ironically, ''is'' a child and a human one at that) and Beastly. Of course, Shreeky and Beastly's attempts to kidnap Bright Heart are thwarted at every turn by their own stupidity. So the [[Broken Aesop]] is "don't worry about kidnappers -- they're idiots." Although the intended 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.

* ''[[Get Muggsy (Animation)|Get Muggsy]]'' subverts this. Although the plot does briefly stop for Muggsy to give a lesson on strangers (complete with the "bad touch" kind of stuff), the lesson also says that some strangers (e.g., authority figures) are more trustworthy.

* ''[[Cowboy Bebop (Anime)|Cowboy Bebop]]'': "Lesson, lesson... If you see a stranger, follow him!"

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

* In the game ''[[Evil Genius (Video Game)|Evil Genius]]'', when you successfully kidnap someone from America, you hear a radio announcement about the crime, which includes advice that people take steps "such as not taking candy from strangers."

* Subverted in [http://cityofreality.com/2009/08/01/01-01-monsters/ this strip] from ''[[City of Reality (Webcomic)|City of Reality]]''.

* Ralph Wiggum from ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'' misunderstood these, and thought his shoulder was his "special area."

* ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]''