"Cried Wolf"- Comments

I may be a bit off on this, but maybe, just maybe, the other parents have also had kids pull this stunt and are being polite by not taking the screaming child (who was also likely seen having fun with his parents up until that point) seriously.

I have seen kids be fine with their folks (I am a fairly observant person) and then they go to leave and all hell breaks loose. I'm going to play devil's advocate on this one because I HAVE seen kids do this and have actually heard the "you aren't my mom" stuff. I'm guessing other parents have had similar experiences. Plus, she was carrying a baby, with her husband and a 'family of six'-- see where I'm going with this? Families of five would be INSANE to kidnap some random kid.

Reading for context is important.

However, the right thing the mom could have done was 'gone all mom' on him-- "If you don't leave right now, there's no video games for the next week Mister!" I'm just guessing that kidnappers aren't going to be talking about withholding privileges....

What bothered me about this article was that the author ends with the quote.
"There is no great life lesson learned here except the lesson I tried to impart to my son as he half-listened while trying to construct his Transformer."

She discussed this incident while her child is not engaged and is actually playing?

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a fable, at least hundreds of years old which has been used to teach child this important life lesson. The author just seems to have missed the point. She is more worried about what others think of her then using the moment to teach her kid a valuable lesson.

I would have laughed if one of my kids did that to me, told them loudly "oh sure I'm not your Mommy, that's why I have to carry you to our car right now and figure out a repercussion for your awful behavior."

I would guess that many people don't want to get involved because they are afraid of getting in trouble.

I've watched the show "What would you do?" on ABC - and it's kinda of scary the number of people that don't do something.

If I heard a child screaming "you're not my mommy" I would use my cell phone and call the police and then go to the child to help.

I tried reading that article. There was too much saccharine sweetness in it. I don't know what world that particular author is living it, but it's not my world. I think I got about 3 paragraphs into it and about puked.

I will give that there are, probably, more good people than rotten in the world, but the world we all live in today is NOT Mayberry either. I like most of my neighbors, I don't think any of them are serial killers or anything, but I don't just trust random strangers to watch my kids either.

Actually Birds, psychologists will tell you that you must articulate, I need help! I am in danger! make eye contact.

Looking to others to judge situations is a common and normal psychological reaction. We are not sure, then no one is reacting, the situation must be fine, we go about our business. It is not an issue of people not caring it is an issue of people being confused.

An example from yesterday. I was in a line with about fifty people. Some woman plowed into this guys truck and then starts screaming she didn't touch his truck, there is no damage on her car (there was) nothing happened I am not leaving a note! We are all standing around no one is doing anything. I asked, did anyone get a picture of the damage? Two people did. Did anyone call the police? I got a chorus of I am sure someone did. I called the police, turns out I was the only one who did.

Totally human nature but since I know it happens I react differently.

So to answer the OP you don't know the difference, you have to ask, is there a problem here, do you need help? Sure the parent may turn on you but it is better than hearing on the news that child was actually kidnapped.

Would be interesting to read the article mind you.

This article was a waste of a read.

If that was someone I didn't know, I would have started asking questions. Call the police if I had to. Yes, that is what I would hope someone would do if my daughter ever said that to me, my husband or a stranger.

And you know what, the world is a scary place. The horrors may be few and far between but they are out there.

Have you seen the “what would you do?” John Quinones if not here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7dfkZKjWSo
People do not intervene for fear of reprisal
I read the article and I wanted to know what the end result was-was he punished? I’ve walked away from my child in the mall, sat in a nearby seat and allowed her to throw a tantrum. SO may people passed her by, stopped to look for parents (I kindly waved) and kept moving. After a few minutes she calmed down and came over to apologize We talked about how it made her feel, having the people stare at her too. It was a lesson. I am also the mom, however, who could care less about the looks because my DD has ADHD and we are trying to teach appropriate behavior from these lessons.

It's clear we need more government in our business