Experts fear the 'stranger danger' message is being overlooked after 'shocking' results of park experiment

Stranger danger used to be one of the first real life lessons for children, but experts fear the message is now being overlooked, replaced largely by road safety warnings.

Many childcare centres have stopped doing stranger danger talks, concerned they frighten children, but the results of a social experiment carried out by the TODAY Show with the help of a former police officer will shock parents.

It's a frightening reminder of how trusting children can be and real life proof of how how quickly a child can disappear with a complete stranger.

The Experiment:

Former Queensland police officer Brett Lee spent 22 years arresting child predators.

For the experiment, he filled his pockets with chocolates and toys and headed to a nearby park to test how children would react to a stranger.

"It's low probability but high consequence, so it's something we always have to be very vigilant about knowing that it is possible," he told the TODAY Show.

Brett says predators work in five stages, the first is to find a place where they can get close to children.

They then identify a potential target before approaching to look for a vulnerability, such as a child wanting a chocolate or a toy.

In our experiment, Brett approached 8 children and offered them chocolate. All but one of the kids took something.

Brett says the giving of a treat establishes trust with a child and leads to stage four - getting the child to walk away.

In the experiment, Brett approached the children and told them he needed help to find a lost puppy. 

Their response was frightening - seven of the eight children walked off with Brett, out of the sight of their parents.

Mothers witnessing the experiment were horrified.

"I'm honestly just shocked that they didn't hesitate, there was like a 30 second discussion and they went, it's just crazy," Liz Cooke told the TODAY Show.

"The fact that they would just go off is quite scary," Tania Ramsay said.

In the experiment, only one child ran to their mother and explained what Brett had said to him.

"He wanted me to help find his puppy and I said I need to find my my mum," the child told his mother.

Advice for parents:

Police say parents should start stranger danger talks as soon as they can understand the meaning of good and bad.

Former officer Brett Lee recommends not using the word 'stranger' - instead talking to your children about 'trusted' and 'non-trusted' people.

"It's very easy to explain a trusted adult and that is someone who is in our life that we know and feel comfortable with. Everyone else becomes a non trusted person," he told the TODAY Show.

"Teach you children to only take gifts or leave a place with a 'trusted' person.  If they're approached by anyone else, the rule is to run straight to mum or dad and tell them," he said.

In most cases it will be an innocent interaction but in that one rare possible situation where it's not, it may just be the difference between ending up in stage five - abuse or abduction.