Parent reacts to attempted abduction

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A snow day is just what some anxious elementary school parents needed, after a child reported an attempted abduction at Walter H.Taylor Elementary School on Wednesday.

Kim Powell is a parent who was picking up her son in the same hallway, at the same time the little girl said a stranger took her. She told us, "Sometimes it's all you can do to reach across the hall and grab your own child."

Powell described it as controlled chaos. Parents picks up their child directly from the teacher. Those who ride a bus form a line and go one way, after care kids line up and go another.

She's always had confidence in the system at school. All she can think to do now is to reinforce the stranger danger rules.

When we asked her first grade son what he would do if a stranger struck up a conversation he, said, "I wouldn't even go to his car. I would just run away."

Big brother seems to get the rules, but little Lily... "What if I said, I have a bunch of Disney princess toys for you -- do you want to see them?," we asked. She smiled shyly and giggled then replied "I'll just see them."

Its hard for a 4-year-old, and Powell doesn't want to scare her daughter, so we asked early childhood expert Katharine Kersey, Ed.D. how to handle it.

"A little fear is good, so I think we can say there are some people who just aren't good in the world and they don't want good things and they might hurt you," Kersey said.

She advises role playing. "For example, if the child is in the ocean and comes up and can't find his parents, what should he do? And the answer is find another mother," she explained.

Then let them practice screaming and running from a bad situation. It's a game that could save their lives.

A school spokesperson said there will be additional security at Walter H. Taylor Elementary School on Friday. The head of security will also be there to assess the system and see if any changes need to be made.