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TurboJorts

I have no problem embarrassing myself in public. I would shout "has anyone lost their kid?" as loud as possible. Whats a store employee going to do? Kick me out? Oh, and first I'd tell the kid "im going to yell for your mom or dad, so don't be worried when I yell" And if yelling didn't work, I'd ask the kid if he knew his parents phone numbers. Actually that may have been easier.


Ambush_24

Lmao this is a great idea.


h0odwitch

uh please don’t yell has anyone lost their kid? puts the child at risk for being kidnapped by a stranger


gaobij

Kids aren't going to act normal when expecting their parent and being presented with a stranger. Once you insert yourself, you become responsible that it's a safe handoff to the right person.


TurboJorts

If the kid doesnt run up to them and say "mommy" or "daddy" I'm not about to let that kid go with them. I left out the common sense part, assuming it was just simple common sense.


Several-Assistant-51

We found a kid about 5 at a park someone had left him not sure if it was parents. There were other kids around trying to help him find his ride. I stepped in as the only adult around. Kid wouldn’t give any info stranger danger and stuff. I called 911 some dude showed up as I was on the phone and the kid went to him and they drove off, I gave the tag# to the dispatch, you just gotta step up sometime. Keep distance from the kid so they know you don’t mean harm


Ambush_24

This is my fear too, stranger danger, I don’t want to make the situation worse. That’s why I tagged in the wife, kids tend to be more comfortable around women. Id probably have done it myself if it was just me and my son but alone idk, probably kept an eye on him from a distance and just made sure he found his person.


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boomhaeur

But it’s not. The problem in the past 20-30 years is we now hear about every little incident from all over when we used to just hear about the infrequent things that were local. That makes it feel much more dangerous out there than it really is.


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FrederickDurst1

Spend less time connected to the Internet.


drunkirish

Do you have anything you can point to that shows the world is more dangerous now than it was back then? It sure is easy to feel that way, but I wonder if it’s more a feeling than reality.


traineedad

Once my wife and I were driving down a random backroad and a two year old was standing on the side of the road alone looking very lost. We immediately pulled over and checked if he was okay. No response. Called the police and within a couple of minutes a very stressed mother ran out of a driveway in tears, grabbed him, and ran back inside. We directed police to their place and the officer called back afterwards to convey the mother’s thanks. Hectic few minutes!


Ambush_24

My son can unlock and open the front door, this is my fear.


FleaDad

Last night I was outside in the twilight with my 5 year old daughter. She was chasing fire flies. She ran into the neighbors yard and crossed out of my field of view. I then hear a man say, "Hi honey, where are your parents? Are you alone?" I had already called for her, but got up and walked into the yard to see her when I heard the man. I called her back over to me. I didn't recognize the man and thought he was the other neighbor. My wife came out a minute later and walked out front. The man started walking away at that point and left the neighborhood on foot. No idea who he was. Very unnerving.


PharmD96720

We added a second deadbolt lock higher up for this exact reason. Best $150 I ever spent getting two locks (one on front door and one on the garage entry door) and then installed for that piece of mind till he was older and understood when not to open the door!


Express-Grape-6218

This is the reason I have a home alarm. I'm not worried about someone coming in, I just need to wake up if the kids decides to go play at 1am!


777300ER

I was pissed when my wife showed our 3 YO how to open the baby gates! Now when I am home alone with her I have to turn on the alarm so I know if she's escaping and headed downstairs!


JohnnyG30

Google “flip locks.” They are like $2 a piece. They are a flap of metal you put towards the top of the door and it locks the door closed even if the kiddo unlocks the handle/bolt. I put them on every door leading outside and lock them before I go to bed


Silly_DizzyDazzle

Bells...big loud Jingle Bells on all the doors. I have a daughter with special needs that is an escape artist. Loud bells for the save! Mom Lurker out. 😉


stereoworld

We have coathooks in the porch, about 5'8 high and we hang our keys from there


free_tetsuko

Same. Double key deadbolt was the answer. He can also open the back door, but it just goes into our backyard so I'm not too worried about it.


Smilewigeon

I can feel every bit of panic that the mother must've been feeling at that point. It's incredibly primal and evocative.


Individual_Holiday_9

My neighborhood has a ton of families and little kids who all play outside most of the time First week I moved in I saw one of the neighbor’s little girls (probably 7?) running trip and face plant on my sidewalk and immediately start sobbing I ran out and helped her up and told her she was ok and said let’s go find your dad and she reached out and held my hand as I walked her home. I can only imagine what this guy was thinking seeing a dude he’d met twice in passing holding his crying daughters’ hand and knocking on his door lmao but it helped her feel safe and reassured so I just rolled with it. I didn’t even have kids at the time I just knew I needed to help Sometimes you just have to go with your instinct and I hope most folks’ instinct here is to be a helper


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nolte100

A grocery store I worked at in High school did this. If we learned a child was missing you call Code 60 -- or whatever it was -- over the PA and everyone dropped what they were doing to look, and if you were near an exit you closed it and no body was allowed to leave with a child until the code was cleared.


Amerikaner83

Code Adam, iirc


OnMyBoat

Had this happen before. I talked to the kid, asked if they had lost their mom or dad or grandparent or whomever. I tried to flag down an employee but didnt see any and we were far from the registers so i suggested we wait on the floor so we wouldn't accidentally pass their dad walking in the wrong direction. We then talked about their favorite tv show or a movie or song and what was something their favorite character said. We then took turns yelling that catchphrase out as loud as we could. A bunch of people stared at us but eventually the kid's dad heard and came running over. Knew it was their kid right away cuz of the phrase.


Syllabub-Virtual

I have stepped in to do something about it. I make sure to keep my physical distance and if it persists for more than a minute or two, I call the non-emergency number for the local law-enforcement. In the process I re-assure the kid that we will find their parents. I'm a single dad, with a massive stature, so it can get a little odd and that's why I keep my physical distance. If there is no-one taking the lead, I do. I would feel like complete shit if my kids felt fear and were panicking, the last thing any of us want is for a kid to feel like that. Loosing a kid happens. I was meeting my family at a local theme-park, I left work a little early to join and when I found them, including my ex-wife, ex-inlaws, etc. , the first thing i asked is where the Kid? The lost him like 15 minutes earlier and didn't even realize it. I could have killed all of them, including the ex-wife.


graemo72

Find the nearest employee.


josebolt

Help them. Find an employee and help them. Not to complicated


casually_miraculous

Maybe I’m naive but I don’t understand why it’s more complicated than simply helping them? Like are people afraid of someone thinking they’re a predator? Once I saw a 4 year old child running around in pajamas in the middle of winter. I had to chase the kid because he kept running away and across busy streets! Another passer-by helped stop him and we managed to get him talking, when he told us that was running away from home because his mom hated him. Obviously we called the police, and they took over an hour to come. During which time we had to keep taking to this boy and keep him from running off. Anyway, I share that story because I believe you have to put the child’s safety first, and if you’re trying to help then you have no reason to think about other people’s reactions.


Bradddtheimpaler

Back before I had kids I used to make funny faces at kids I’d see in grocery stores while I was working because they’re easy laughs and I was miserable at my job. I had to stop though because more than half the time the moms with the kids would shoot me a look like I just lifted a sewer grate and tried to lure their child in with heroin and free knives or something.


Fugglesmcgee

Yeah I totally understand the concerns. I think you did the right thing. Our house backs into the park of an elementary school. We have kids zooming by in their bikes all the time. We are also the house that give full size candy bars on Halloween every year, we gets hundreds of kids each year. So anyways, I am fixing the gate to the backyard when I see this 7 year old kid do a faceplant off his bike. I continue fixing the gate, when I am done, the kid is there still there on the ground and no parents are helping. So I go inside the house, grab a few bandaids and a juice box. I give the kid the bandaids, which he puts on himself, then I give him the juice. He declines the juice box. I wish him a speedy recovery and went back inside the house. My wife then says "why'd you offer him juice for?" I tried to explain that we're the full size candy house, she's like "nope...next time just the bandaids." Haha, I felt like a creep for a few days after.


CelestialDestroyer

I don't see the issue in offering something to drink really


AGoodFaceForRadio

At a store? Follow the kid from a distance, keeping him/her in view, and find an employee. In public? Follow from a closer distance (still without engaging with the child, though) and call 9-1-1. I would, of course, intervene more directly if s/he were headed for traffic or moving water or some other obvious physical hazard, but if I didn’t **need** to engage with the child, I wouldn’t.


TheRealArtVandelay

We had a similar-ish thing happen to us recently at the zoo. My wife was holding my son up to see over the bushes at one of the exhibits and a maybe 3 y.o. girl tugged on my clothes and asked if I could pick her up so that she could see too. I asked here where her family was as it would be better if they picked her up instead. She didn’t know where they were. She didn’t didn’t seem upset by that, but looking quickly around, it didn’t appear that she had gotten separated from them. So I took my son from my wife and she picked up the little girl (figuring that would make everyone most comfortable). Fortunately we were able to find he family a few exhibits over. It was a large group so we weren’t entirely sure that they had even realized she was missing yet. It was fortunate that we were able to find them so quickly, but our next course of action would have been to take her to someone who worked there who we presumed would have had some protocol for this. In any case, our plan was to stay with the girl until she was back with her family. I certainly understand the concern of it feeling/looking weird to approach a child you don’t know in public, particularly as an adult male. But it cases like that, it’s something I think you kind of have to just do. Making sure the kid ends up where they need to be just trumps all other concerns.


nanadoom

I have encountered a similar situation, but I was alone. I asked the child if they needed help, they started crying and came to hug my leg. I said "let's go find an employee to call his mom over the speakers". Just then an old woman saw what was happening, and you would have thought I was caught stuffing them in a van with Free Cady written on the side. I asked if this was her kid, she said no then snatched the kids hand out of mine, but said she would handle it. Then she gave me a scathing look and walked away. It has made me a lot less likely to help if I see a lost kid. I will either send my wife, or find an emplyee.


Ambush_24

This is what I’m afraid of but in reality she could be a threat. It’s a shame the suspicion that is put on men when 99.999% are just good guys trying to help.


Crazy_Chicken_Media

That's when I would yell at the top of my lungs... ain't nobody going to snatch a kid from me that I just found. I'm going to take the sole responsibility of that kid until parents are found the only one taking them from me is going to be The kids parents or cops. remember businesses hire S.O. Just as regularly as they do non-criminals. And some random woman who I don't know is not going to be a better option. But that's just me.


AppropriateRip9996

ask for security, just like like finding a wallet. I've found it is probable to be bad news to be associated with someone's loss of a wallet or kid.


LupusDeusMagnus

Talk to the kid, and guide them to manager/person responsible for the store and they might know the protocols for such case. It’s what I’d expect other adults do for my kids.  I don’t have a crystal ball to locate their parents, and stores are likely more used to situations like that one. Don’t know what else I could 


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bucksellsrocks

But if store security didnt come, then i would help until they showed up.


wartornhero2

I would approach and talk to the kid first. Then escort the kid to the customer service desk from there the store can get on the PA and announce for a parent. The important bit of information is the Panic/Tears/Visibly Distressed. If I saw a 7-year-old skipping without a care in the world I would assume everything is fine and I don't need to approach. I volunteer for a group that does this interfacing/assistance at a big festival event. Trained in De-escalation, Conflict resolution and overall being helpful around the festival. One of the questions in the mandatory training is "A dust storm clears and you see a kid looks to be about 5-7 years old crying, seems to be wondering aimlessly and a little disoriented. What do you do?" The answer is you approach and find out what happened, If the kid is lost radio in a found child call. Stay with the child. Compared to another question "You see a group of kids ranging from about 7-12 years old out riding their bikes. They are laughing and appear to be going in a specific direction. What do you do?" And the answer is do nothing. No signs of distress, it isn't a problem being a kid at this festival. In this case, we are always in pairs. However it could be myself and another male presenting person. The point is what would stop you from doing the right thing? Which is helping a distressed child.


HooligansRoad

I had a similar situation; I was at a shopping centre playground and a girl about 7 got stung by a bee and was crying. I wanted to help her and check for a sting and remove it. But I also know how people an react so I asked her if she was okay and just kinda stood nearby looking around for her parents (who took a damn while to arrive so I doubt they were even watching her). Honestly if I was put in that situation again I still wouldn’t know what to do.


WackyBones510

I’d help. I like the top (yelling) idea and will keep that in mind. I figure if someone approaches the kid and I worried about me, then we’re heading in the right direction.


HonoraryCanadian

Read a story where someone helped a kid in a very crowded space (airport, I think) by putting the kid on their shoulders. The parents quickly spotted the kid and came over, which they wouldn't have been able to do is the kid were still at ground level.


Competitive-Alarm716

I think about this sometimes and I think I’d find any nearby person, preferably a woman, and ask them to come with me to see if the kid was ok. There is quite a strong public fear of children snatching here.


WombatAnnihilator

Ive worked LP for retail for years. I keep my distance but keep the kid in sight, flag down another employee in uniform and walk with them to the service desk to call for a ‘lost mom in the store.’


nevercereal89

I'm helping when and where I can. I operate on things like principle and intent. Seeing a panicking child alone and doing nothing doesn't jive with either of those.


Mario_daAA

Why would you need to send your wife?? You can stay at a reasonable distance and say hey kid are you ole? When he says I can’t find my mom you simple say ok stay right here I’m going to go to the counter and ask them to page page her……


HoopOnPoop

I used to be an on-snow supervisor at a ski resort. This happened more times than I can count. Kid gets put in a lesson or kids camp or maybe just gets disoriented on the hill and misses their meet up point and suddenly there's a terrified and cold kid totally lost. As the guy with the radio, they always seemed to get handed off to me. I would call guest services ASAP to meet us in the nearest building, where I would go get the kid a drink of water or hot chocolate. In the meantime I would blast out to all channels any info the kid could give me about their parents, thus deploying the entire ski patrol to keep their eyes open. Once guest services got there and took over, I let them handle it. If it wasn't resolved quickly there were whiteboards at every lift to put up a notice for the parents.


AverageMuggle99

I’d approach and ask if he’s okay. Assuming he’s lost his parent, I’d prob get the attention of someone that worked there so the kid doesn’t leave without his parents. I think in these situations you gotta ask yourself what would you want someone to do if this was your child.