The Most Uncomfortable Child-Safety Pamphlet
Ever Written
Key Takeaways
- ✦ A convicted predator’s own words confirm what martial arts schools teach — say no, run, scream, and always tell an adult.
- ✦ Predators are stopped by resistance — Dodd’s own account shows that children who ran, yelled, or refused gave him no opportunity to act.
- ✦ Niceness is a vulnerability — children are taught to be polite. Predators exploit this. Kids must know it is always safe to be rude to a stranger.
- ✦ Martial arts schools practice these scenarios — safe, age-appropriate, game-like drills prepare kids to react instinctively, not freeze.
- ✦ A 6-year-old’s bravery led to a killer’s capture — shouting for help in a theater stopped Dodd and saved lives. Every child can be that hero.
“My name is Wes, but since you don’t really know me, I am a stranger to you. I am the kind of stranger you should stay away from. There are other people like me.”
— Westley Allan DoddThe Pamphlet: Written by a Predator, for Children
One of the most disturbing and illuminating documents in true crime is called “When You Meet a Stranger or Other Bad People — by Westley A. Dodd.”
In 1990, before he was executed by hanging, convicted child killer Westley Allan Dodd wrote the short pamphlet telling children how to avoid predators like him.
The result is unsettling: practical child-safety advice written from the perspective of someone who actually targeted children. It is simultaneously disturbing and yet profoundly informative.
“I think this pamphlet should be required reading for every man, woman, and especially child,” said FBI profiler and true crime expert Candice De Long in her podcast Killer Psyche. That line in the podcast prompted me to research it and share the message here. It frames some of the most vivid warnings about stranger danger, and reaffirms some of the most important teachings to kids often shared in martial arts schools.
What Dodd Confirmed: The Safety Lessons That Actually Work
Dodd claimed he wanted to warn children about predators using his own experience as a child molester. His demented life and perspective serves as a powerful, profound warning. His advice echoes and confirms common safety lessons in karate schools: Say no. Find an adult. Scream. Kick. Yell. Don’t be nice. Don’t believe them.
“What do you do? JUST SAY NO!” Dodd wrote. “We make you take off your clothes. Some of us tell you to enter into their cars. We can be nice, or we can be very bad. Sometimes, some of us want to wound you, or even kill you. But you can still escape.”
He gave real-life examples of scenarios when targeted victims actually got away.
“A boy said no. Then, before I could say or do something more, he ran away. I ran away too — in the opposite direction.”
— Westley Allan DoddStranger Danger Training Built Into Every Class
Action Karate teaches kids to say no, run, and scream — in safe, age-appropriate scenarios that build real instincts, not just rules.
The 6-Year-Old Hero Who Stopped a Killer
In fact, the reason Dodd was caught is because a 6-year-old boy escaped his grasp in a theater.
“He only knew that I was trying to take him away and something really bad could happen. Instead of being scared and leaving with me, he shouted for help! He is a hero now because even when he was afraid of me, he shouted for help.”
— Westley Allan DoddHow Martial Arts Schools Practice These Lessons
Martial arts schools practice and act out stranger danger scenarios in safe, game-like, age-appropriate lessons. The pamphlet reinforces the importance of those lessons for all kids.
Take his advice. Listen to the FBI profiler. Follow the advice of martial arts instructors.
“Just say NO! Then RUN! SCREAM!!” he wrote. “SCREAM FOR HELP! Get away quickly and tell someone what happened. Always tell someone! Be a HERO!”
Teach Them to Say No, Run, and Scream.
Action Karate gives kids the confidence and instincts to protect themselves — starting with their very first class.
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