It’s probably worth pointing out early on that this was done with the permission of the parents, who also took part in the experiment and were close by to witness the reactions of the girls (but obviously the girls weren’t aware that they were being watched).
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YouTube filmmaker Coby Persin adds this chilling statistic to the end of his social experiment video to remind parents to keep their kids safe. Within three days, the girls agreed to meet him.
“It’s really showing parents that this could happen to anybody”, she said.
Mikayla meets her on-line suitor at a playground, despite the fact that he seems to be nothing like his Facebook image. “He could have been a rapist [or] a pedophile”.
In another scene, Persin sets up a meeting with a 12-year-old girl named Julianna – making plans to meet her when her father falls asleep.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ he said. ‘You could have been defiled and murdered!’ he yells.
“I feel it’s worthwhile to have a dialog together with your youngsters and inform them that they will speak to anybody, however they can’t go off with anybody”. “I’m not saying that this never happens, but what disturbs me about our culture is that we are encouraged to think in terms of the worst-case scenario in every situation”.
One girl, Mikayla, 13, decides Jason is a nice guy after he tells her “I just moved from Florida to your town”.
“Jenna thinks her parents are going out for date night”, Persin said in his video. “She won’t do it”.
“I hope she doesn’t open the door”.
Her parents, wearing masks, played the role of “abductors” in the experiment.
Jenna gets in but starts to scream and fight back when she thinks she’s being abducted. Jenna’s father said. “What would we have done, if we didn’t have our daughter?”
“Jason” says that he just wants to make new friends, and the two continue to talk before arranging to meet in a park near Mikayla’s house. The parents comfort them but agree there are serious conversations to be had and lessons to be learned.
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Most parents think they have taught their children about social media and stranger danger, but for some, the message is not getting through.
