Woman Praised For Heroic Response To Man 'Kidnapping Child' In Social Experiment

A mother is being praised for how she handled a man trying to 'lure' a child with candy during a staged 'kidnapping' social experiment.

If you're looking to either restore your faith in humanity or completely lose it, social experiment videos are the place to go. 

These viral clips often test the "bystander effect," a psychological theory that suggests people are less likely to help someone in need when there are others around, according to Simple Psychology.

Some of these experiments involve people pretending to be in need, like setting up near food trucks to see if customers will offer them a meal. 

Other times, good Samaritans step in to stop aggressive behavior in public, or to protect children from dangerous situations.

One content creator known for sharing these types of social experiments is Matthew Bandeira.

A mum had a visceral reaction to a man trying to 'lure' a girl with candy Tiktok/@matt.tv

In one of his latest videos, he worked with influencer and podcaster Danielle Sylvester to see how she would react to a man trying to talk to a child nearby.

The clip shows an unnamed man approaching a child sitting alone on a park bench. 

To start a conversation, the man asks the little girl if she "likes candy."

"I have the best candy you've ever had," he says.

"It's a special candy for special kids. I'm going to give it to you right now."

Sylvester, who is sitting on the other side of the bench with a friend, immediately jumps in. She asks the girl if she knows the man.

When the child shakes her head "No," Sylvester turns to her and calmly asks her to cover her ears before taking action.

"I need you to back the f**k up now," she says to the man.

"She don't know you, you don't know her, you need to back the f**k up out of here."

The influencer claimed her reaction was spurned from 'being a mom' Instagram/sylvester_danielle_

The man, clearly startled by Sylvester's strong response, tries to get her to 'relax' before quickly backing away.

After the staged event, Sylvester speaks directly to the camera, explaining why she reacted so fiercely. She says, "because [she] is a mom."

"I see this happening every day in the news, and I'm so sorry. As a mom, I just can't imagine if that was my kid. I'm sorry," she says, tearing up.

In the caption of the video, Sylvester explained that her own daughter set her up for the experiment to get a genuine reaction. 

"Well!!! A reaction was had," she added.

After posting the experiment to her 1.2 million Instagram followers, many viewers applauded Sylvester for how she handled the situation.

One person wrote, "From the innocent 'I need you to cover your ears honey' to the threat she made against him... GOOD JOB. Made me cry thinking about my daughter."

Another shared, "She handled it perfectly fine. As a mom myself, I would do the exact same thing if somebody else’s child was about to get abducted."

Someone else added, "Them both turning their heads at the same time when he said 'candy' is soo funny to me."

Others were less thrilled with the experiment itself. One viewer said, "That woman is a blessing to have among us but I hate these videos. She didn’t need that stress or people with cameras playing games with her emotions."

Another person remarked, "I would totally let her babysit my daughter."