Stranger Danger: Social Experiment Scares Parents With Fake Child Abduction


Every parent’s worst fear is the thought of their child coming up missing. Just the thought of a child being kidnapped sends shivers down the spine, yet most parents believe that their children know better than to go anywhere with a stranger, for any reason. YouTube Prankster Joey Salads felt that parents may be too confident in their child’s ability to run from strangers and decided to conduct a social experiment that would frighten parents into talking about the danger of strangers to their kids. The parents that allowed him to conduct the social experiment were devastated by the results.

Joey Salads is best known for recording pranks on Youtube. However, he decided to use his online fame for something more than just fun and games. instead, he used it as an opportunity to teach both parents and children of the dangers of strangers. Armed with a puppy, Joey asked unsuspecting parents if their kids would leave a play area with a stranger. The parents overwhelmingly responded that their kids were too smart for that, according to WCVB. When asked if he could attempt to lure the kids away, the parents were hesitant, but curious enough to see what would happen.

With the puppy, he was easily able to earn the children’s trust, just as any child predator might, and walk the children away form the parents while holding their hands. Joey was not sure what to expect during the experiment and was completely surprised at the results.

“That was a little unexpected. Sometimes kids are just too young to comprehend the dangers out there.”

Metro U.K. shared Joey’s video in hopes to bring awareness across the world to the dangers of assuming kids know the dangers of strangers.

Parents of the children were shocked that a friendly smile, soft voice, and a cute puppy were all that was needed to coerce their children away. If they had not known the incident was a social experiment, the fear that they felt in their chests would have easily turned into panic. Joey hopes that his social experiment will not only bring awareness to the threat of child abduction, but also urge parents to have an intellectual discussion with their children on the danger of talking to strangers and the consequences of leaving with them. He also hopes that children will learn to scream and yell when a stranger does attempt to speak to them, in order to bring awareness to nearby adults and other children in the area.

[Photo Courtesy: Metro U.K.]

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