Why It's Awful That Only 21 People Approached These Children Over an 8-Hour Span

Most parents can easily call up that instantaneous panicky feeling that comes over them when they think they've lost their child in a busy place, even if it's only for one second. And most people in general, whether parents or not, would think it was a little weird to see a child alone in public.

So why, in this Australian social experiment in which two small, scared-looking children are standing by themselves in a busy shopping center, did only 21 people stop to find out what was wrong in an eight-hour span? To an adult watching, the instinct to approach a young child who is clearly alone — as these kids were — seems like it should be natural and urgent, but this particular video proves otherwise, as hundreds of people walk by these kids without so much as turning a head in their direction.

Watch the video — which was made to raise awareness of the more than 43,000 children in Australia who need foster families — to see clips of the experiment, and ask yourself, "What would I do in this situation?"