Teaching Your Kids About Stranger Danger

July 18 -- Following the murder of Samantha Runnion and the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, parents across America are asking how they can keep their children safe.

In dramatic video that Court TV shared with Good Morning America, children who were approached by a stranger on a playground willingly talked to — and in some cases walked off with a man they did not know. The man was actually just acting the part of an abductor.

"Have you seen my granddaughter's dogs? Little Snowflake and Snowball? Have you seen them?" child safety expert Ken Wooden asked on the tape. "Would you help me look for them? Have you seen this dog?"

Wooden pretended to have lost two puppies, a common ploy used by child abductors. Horrified parents watched on a monitor as their children eagerly helped Wooden find his lost dog. Shockingly, some kids even left the park with him.

"When you're in a setting like this, well they're just like, you know, like, they feel safe and they're having a good time. Those words of wisdom go out the window," said one mother.

"Oh my God," said another mom, who watched her daughter leave with Wooden. "Already I'm horrified. She knows the stranger rule, she knows not to just kind of go walking off."

Paranoid Children Stay Alive

J.J. Bittenbinder, a leading child safety expert warns that parents should not be worried that they will scare their children by warning them about strangers.

"Parents today say they don't want to make their children paranoid," Bittenbinder said. "But the paranoid children stay alive. Too many parents think they will only make their children afraid."

Parents should teach their children to shout out "stranger!" to get the attention of adults everywhere.

"And if they need help, they should grab an adult and hold onto them until they have the person's attention," Bittenbinder said. "Also, kids should stay together. They are stronger together."

Run From Cars

In more than 90 percent of these abductions, one child is taken. It is rarely two, and never, three, he said.