A Woman Saved Because She Did Not Open the Door for a Stranger Shares Her Story

An American woman residing in Morganton NC in North Carolina was saved from harm when she refused to open her door to a stranger who claimed to need her help urgently, Yahoo Parenting reports. The woman who viewed footage from her home security camera afterwards says she is glad she had listened to her instincts and followed the advice, “Do not open the door for a stranger” which parents usually tell their children.
The woman wished to remain anonymous as she narrated that a female stranger had showed up at her house around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday and, after unsuccessfully trying to open her locked front door started to knock on it. Upon hearing the noise, she had turned on the porch lights; the stranger then said,

 

“It’s me. My boyfriend dropped me off. We got into a fight and I need to use the phone.’”

For some reason, she declined to open her door to let the stranger in and the strange woman left after a while. The homeowner reportedly did not see anyone else outside her door while speaking with the stranger across her locked door; however, she later watched her surveillance video and was terrified to see that there was a masked person ducking at the bottom of the porch stairs while the strange woman was trying to get her to open the door. Again, a third person had appeared at the stairs soon after she had refused to open her door.
The terrified homeowner was glad she did not open her door and felt she should share her story on WBTV to warn other people to keep the door locked if they do not know the person on the other side.
It is advisable that parents who leave their children home alone on occasions enlighten them on what to do when an unknown person knocks on the door. It came as a surprise to hear Founder and director of the Coalition for Children, a nonprofit organization that prevents child abuse, bullying, and interpersonal violence, and author of The Safe Child Book, Sherryll Kraizer, advise that kids shouldn’t ignore the stranger at the door by simply acting like they aren’t home.

 

“People who want to rob a home often knock first; so you don’t want to pretend you’re not home.” She says and adds that;
“We recommend that the child approaches the door but does not open it. No matter who it is. They could say, ‘My dad is working in the house and he can’t be disturbed. Come back later.’”

Krazier further recommends that parents should indulge in a role-playing game of “What if?” with their kids; she says,

“It’s a game of asking a question and then talking through the answers. For example, ask, “What would you do if you were here by yourself and someone knocked on the door?”

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She recommends that parents run through different scenarios to see how the child would react and then they should talk about the safest strategies.
She also says using words such as ‘I would call 911 to help you stranger’ is sure to get such a stranger scampering off if they had come with bad intentions but had masked their visit with a request for some help.

“Where the strangers say they have a flower delivery for the mom and need a signature. Instead of opening the door, the teen can either ask to have the flowers left outside the front door or to come back later for a signature. The game isn’t just about safety, but also about teaching teens to think for themselves. “It’s to have the confidence that they can think on their feet,” says Kraizer.

“And it turns something that’s scary into something that’s empowering.”