Joe Keohane, writing for the Boston Globe, highlights multiple studies that emphasize the widespread fear of talking to strangers is largely unfounded and that such interactions can help young people develop critical social skills and reduce their reliance on technology:
"According to a growing number of psychologists, talking to strangers confers a host of benefits that will lessen the malaise affecting young people... studies she [Sandstrom] and others have conducted have consistently found that talking to strangers makes people happy, enhances a sense of belonging and connectedness, and alleviates feelings of loneliness, isolation, and distrust. This holds for men and women and introverts and extroverts across a wide range of ages."