Mum's scary warning for kids using walkie talkies at campsites

"He said that someone had come onto the channel and told him to go to the playground, and he went."

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January 25, 2024 - 9:24AM

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Seeing her two boys, Ari, 8, and Owen, 6, riding their bikes with their friends with big smiles on their faces is one of *Faye’s favourite parts about going on a caravanning holiday with other families.

This summer, however, the mum from SA’s Fleurieu Peninsula faced a frightening reality she never expected while staying at a caravan park along the banks of the Murray River.

On Boxing Day, Ari was riding his bike with a friend, and each was holding a UHF walkie talkie that belonged to an adult from another family, usually used for work on construction sites. A third walkie talkie, turned to channel 24 (the same one the kids were using) was left on at camp where Faye and other parents had gathered.

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“Out of the blue, I heard one of the parents say, ‘I think I heard a voice I don’t recognise on the channel’,” the 40-year-old tells Kidspot.

Faye* with her son Ari*. Picture: Supplied

"He said someone told him to go to the playground"

Alarmed, Faye instantly called Ari back to camp via the walkie talkie, and when her son returned, there was a very frightening revelation.

“He said that someone had come onto the channel and told him to go to the playground,” she says.

“So he went there - which was right next to our own caravan, but we were at someone else’s site at the time - thinking it was one of the parents messing around. He got on the walkie talkie and said, ‘I’m here’, and the person said, ‘Now go to your caravan’. And Ari responded, saying, ‘I’m here, where are you?’ And he said something like, ‘I’m the bald guy’. And that was it.”

Faye questioned her son in detail about the stranger encounter, asking if he saw or heard anything further, but thankfully that was where the incident ended.

The children in the camping group. Picture: Supplied

"Anyone can jump on that channel"

Faye and her husband immediately searched the campground for anything suspicious, but found nothing.

“Anyone can jump on that channel, and what I think happened is someone was scanning it and heard kids’ voices and started talking to them,” she says.

“They would have to be in close proximity because they don’t have a long range but we had no idea if they could see us or how far away they were. There were so many questions that came out of that experience.

“I’d hate to think what could have happened if we hadn’t intercepted it, or if they were watching us. You just never think that could happen with a walkie talkie.”

The family enjoys time on the river during the camping trip. Picture: Supplied

"It's a great wake up call"

Not surprisingly, the walkie talkies were only used between an adult and child from that point on during the holiday.

“We’ve always taught the kids about stranger danger, but there were lots of chats that happened with all of the kids after that,” the cautious mum-of-two says.

“I didn’t want to sugar coat it. If they heard someone they didn’t know on the channel, they were to come straight back to camp, no matter what. Ari was a lot more aware of things after that. He didn’t want to use it anymore.”

As for future trips, Faye will return to using her children’s walkie talkies, which have their own internal channel if she deems the campground is safe enough to do so.

“But they’ll only be allowed to use it if we have one back at camp and can listen to anything going on,” she says.

“I’m actually glad this happened because we do trips as a group quite a lot, and as the kids get older, you give the kids a bit more freedom, so it’s a great wake up call.”

*Name has been changed