If this doesn't give you a lurch in your gut, I don't know what will: a Louisville news station teamed up with a child safety expert to test the responses of children to being approached by strangers, and over half of the children trotted right off with the stranger.
The expert used common methods employed by abductors, such as the "come see this cool toy I have" and "come help me find my dog" gambits. Participating parents watched in astonishment as their children walked off with the man posing as a stranger.
I have one kid who barely talks to anyone outside her household, but the other one? She'll accost people in the grocery store and tell them her name, her sister's name, her cats' names, which Sesame Street character is on her diaper, what kind of car we drove to the store, and anything else that pops in her head. She's never even met a stranger as far as she's concerned, and reading stories like this chills me to the bone. Time for a little Safe Side Superchick up in here.
