‘Never too young’ to talk about safety, murdered schoolboy’s father says, after students approached

The father of murdered Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe has urged parents to talk to their children about personal safety after several students were approached by a stranger in regional Victoria.

Last week a letter was sent to Ballarat High School parents informing them an unknown man had “attempted to entice” a student waiting at a Miners Rest bus stop onto their motorcycle.

Police have told the ABC the motorcyclist offered the teenage girl a lift, but she refused.

“No offences were detected in relation to the incident,” the police spokesperson said.

In a statement, a Department of Education spokesperson indicated other Ballarat students had reported being approached by “an unknown individual after school”.

While these incidents did not result in a crime, the school has warned students to stay “vigilant” and to “never accept a lift from a stranger”.

This message has been strongly reiterated by Bruce Morcombe.

Nearly 21 years ago, his son Daniel was abducted from a bus stop on the Sunshine Coast by a stranger — Brett Peter Cowan — who offered the teenager a lift, before brutally killing him.

“[Daniel] was tricked, he got into a car with somebody he did not know,” Mr Morcombe said.

After Daniel’s abduction and murder, Mr Morcombe and his wife Denise established The Daniel Morcombe Foundation, which offers free safety resources to families.

Mr Morcombe said a strategy that “would have saved Daniel’s life” was creating a family password.

“It could be your pet’s name, favourite food … anything at all,” he said.

“The youngster is trained if the person doesn’t say the family password, that ‘I’m not ever going to get in the car, I’m going to walk away and tell someone about this conversation’.”

Mr Morcombe said it is “never too young” to have a conversation about safety in the real world and online.

Importantly, Mr Morcombe said, children should learn to report anything that makes them feel unsafe to a network of trusted adults, including two that do not live at home and were not related, such as a teacher or police officer.

‘Stranger danger’ debate

In recent years, the classic phrase “stranger danger” has drawn criticism from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

“More often than not, most child abductions involve a relative or someone the child knows,” the NCMEC website states.

“Teaching children about strangers is not enough.”

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the majority of kidnappings and abductions were perpetrated by a person known to the victim.

In 2022, there were 168 kidnapping/abductions in Victoria, with about 24 per cent carried out by a stranger.

Instead of “stranger danger”, the NCMEC recommends teaching children to immediately report if “anyone asks you to keep a secret, makes you feel uncomfortable, or tries to get you to go somewhere with them”.

Getting ‘stranger talk’ right ‘not easy’

Former Victoria Police detective Narelle Fraser specialised in child abuse and sexual offence investigations during her almost 30-year career.

Speaking to ABC Victorian Statewide Drive, Ms Fraser reflected that while crimes against children were largely perpetrated by people known to them, the stranger danger conversation was still relevant in 2024.

“We still need to educate our kids from a young age … don’t accept lifts from strangers, don’t believe what a stranger tells you,” she said.

“But there’s a fine line because sometimes you do need to go to a stranger for help. So it’s not easy for a parent.”