Congrats on becoming a new grandparent! <3

My parents, especially my mother, would tell us to be careful of strangers even women. It was good to be polite if they asked you something like the direction, but we weren't allowed to indulge in conversations or go anywhere with them, take anything from them or even get close (like touching) no matter how nice they seemed (looks can be deceptive). I remember a couple of incidences where I politely smiled and said "no, I can't" to strangers. We were taught there is nothing wrong in saying no.
We weren't paranoid because we were told most people are nice but you just never know with some, so why take the chance?
My parents were also pretty open with us about what all happens but not in a dramatic way. So, we were aware.
Otherwise, we were very independent as kids. We just had to watch our backs.

My mother, who is no more, used to say somethings to us pretty often like you have to be brave (she would say like a lion), that we had to protect others, if we see something wrong we should speak up no matter what, amongst other things. I guess that's why I wasn't afraid to disagree with the other girls and the man.