Two young girls have been left upset and scared after being approached by strangers in South Dunedin.
In one case, a girl was approached and ‘‘touched'' by a man in King Edward St on her way home from school. In the second incident, a girl walking her dog was asked to get into a car by a man. It is believed the girls are of intermediate school age.
The principal of the school the girls attend said he had notified police and the school community. He asked that the school not be identified, ‘‘We're not overstating anything. [It's] a very upsetting incident.''
The incidents occurred on different days during the past 10 days, he said.
In the first incident, ‘‘a man approached [the girl] and touched her and she pushed him away and he's threatened her''.
The girl screamed and ran away, he said.
In the second incident, ‘‘somebody asked her to get in the car''.
‘‘She did the right thing and ran home,'' he said.
The principal had talked to pupils about keeping safe.
‘‘I had to say something at assembly to remind children about keeping ourselves safe ... and making sensible choices when people they don't know ask them to do things. They [approaches from strangers] shouldn't happen but they do happen.''
Schools talked about incidents such as these ‘‘from time to time'', the principal said.
Musselburgh School principal Debbie Smith was unaware of the incidents but was concerned.
‘‘We talk about stranger danger year round,'' she said.
Another South Dunedin school principal said he was unaware of any approaches towards pupils at his school. He did not want to comment further.
In a statement, Inspector Kelvin Lloyd, of Dunedin, said unfortunately most offenders were known to the child.
Caregivers should focus on behaviours of others that made children feel uncomfortable, scared or unsafe and to tell someone about it, he said.
Insp Lloyd was unable to comment last night on the specific incidents.
