KMSP, the Fox News affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, has dropped a plan to test children to see if they will talk to strangers driving in their neighborhood. Minnesota Public Radio.com reports that after an attempted child abduction last week in a Twin Cities suburb, the TV station told a suburban police department that a reporter would cruise the streets in an unmarked SUV after school is dismissed and see if young children would respond to a request for directions.
The station later dropped the idea, telling school officials that they intended to talk with children only with their parents’ permission, which a Minnesota Public Radio blogger said “doesn’t make any sense.” MinnPost blogger David Brauer put it more bluntly: “What’s next, putting a razor blade in a Halloween apple and see if kids take it?”