DON'T talk to strangers. Those words have been drummed into schoolchildren for decades.

When Daily Echo reporters tested security at schools across Hampshire and Southampton last week, it appeared that some children had not taken the message to heart.

The Daily Echo visited 40 schools, and at 30 gained easy access to busy playgrounds, where we were often met by children as young as six who were happy to speak to us.

Reporters hadn't gained permission to be there, they could have been anybody.

Did these children believe they were safe because they were at school or is the message not getting through?

Teachers, union chiefs and Hampshire police all say stranger danger education is stronger than ever before.

Inspector Martin Laux runs Hampshire police's Commitment to Children and Young People programme. It employs 22 school liaison officers who visit junior schools to educate children about trust and stranger danger.

The lessons form part of compulsory personal and social education, taught to pupils of all ages at Hampshire schools.

Insp Laux said: "It's very important that all young people learn about the reality of the world and it's very helpful for schools to have other agencies involved.

"Young people are very trusting. I think it's a flaw in our survival strategy and it is something that people can prey on."

Ron Clooney, a Southampton teacher and national executive member of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, believes more emphasis is given to stranger danger than ever before.

He said: "It is brought into the curriculum as soon as children start school. You can cause tremendous stress and anxiety if you go over the top about it. It has to be taught sensibly. You have to make sure children are protected and that they know how to protect themselves.

"I think my primary school colleagues do an excellent job in teaching children about the perils of modern life. The problem is that children are highly aware of stranger danger if they are on a beach or at the shops. But the school environment is totally different. Quite rightly they feel safe there.

"It's not the education that's to blame. Children have a right to feel safe at school."

Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, is a member of the Department for Education and Skills working group for school security.

Mrs Morrissey, who believes the need for stranger danger lessons has never been so great, said: "Care in the Community means that there are a lot of people who are out in the community and can't really cope but are having to. We have got people who are very serious drug takers and don't know what they are doing. All governing bodies need to sit down and ask whether children are safe."

Norwood Primary School in Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, was one school that Daily Echo reporters identified as having excellent security.

Head teacher Donna Shave works with police liaison officers to ensure her pupils are safe, both in and outside school.

Mrs Shave said: "We teach our children to learn how to say no, to look after themselves and to speak to a trusted friend or adult if they are uncomfortable with what they are doing."