Names on Backpacks: Good Idea?

Photo from Pottery Barn Kids

Choose a backpack with no name or initials only

to keep your kid safe.

Recently, I wanted to get my daughter a cute __tote bag customized with her nam__e and my mother looked at me like I was insane. A third-grade teacher for 35 years, she said, "You never put a kid's name on their backpack or any place it's visible to strangers."

Using a child's name is one of the first and easiest ways for a bad person (kidnapper, pedophile, etc) to establish trust with your child.

For example, if someone says, "Hey, Sofie, how are you? I'm so-and-so, a friend of your mom, and she told me to pick you up today," your child is more likely to believe it because the person knew her name.

Makes perfect sense and I now have no plans to ever have my daughter's name embroidered on anything.

Is your child's name on his backpack? What kind of don't-talk-to-stranger advice have you given your kid?

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