CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte-area mom's frightening incident with a stranger at the door led to a WCNC safety test.
The mom's post on social media struck a nerve with other mothers concerned about the same thing.
We asked our sources at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department about it, and they had a solution. Would your kids let a stranger inside your home? We put three families to the test.
"I almost started crying. I thought someone could have taken my kids. It was absolutely terrifying," Megan Lashua said.
She's talking about the night her kids faced a stranger at the door while she was at work and her husband was upstairs with their youngest.
"They had opened the door, answered it, and had a conversation with whoever this person was," Lashua said.
She was so disturbed by the incident she posted about it on social media asking other moms for advice.
"I got a lot of good feedback and a lot of good ideas, but it was also really scary to know that this is kind of common," said Lashua.
Safety experts said that's exactly why they encourage parents to test their kids.
"Why is not just talking but testing so important?" asked NBC Charlotte's Sarah French.
"Testing provides procedural memory. The more that you do one specific thing over and over, it's going to become more instinctive for you to react," Karen Fisher of RadKids said.
Three moms agreed to try it, including Tammy Panovich -- that's right -- wife of NBC Charlotte Meteorologist Brad Panovich.
"They've been asking a lot to be left alone. Making sure for me that I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be to teach them," Panovich said.
We used the same safety team that helped us with an earlier test to see if kids would go with a stranger including French's daughter.
Karen and Dave Fisher run RadKids of Lake Norman. Their camps include role-playing to help kids distinguish a good stranger from a bad one.
Our stranger, Dave, loaded up a box in the car for delivery. At each house, he knocked on the door to see if any of the kids would let him inside. We waited out of view with the moms to see what happened.
It didn't take long at the first house for 8-year-old Brynn to answer the door and let the stranger inside.
We let her in on the test.
"Has your mom talked to you?" French asked.
"Yeah," Brynn said.
"Why did you open the door then?" asked French.
"I don't know," answered Brynn.
"You thought she might open the door?" French asked Brynn's mom.
"I did. I did. We're so feeling safe in this cul-de-sac. I did think she would," she said.
"This is absolutely very good training very important because as we see by the time we walked up she was already outside so a lot of things could have happened. It's a learning experience. Just by doing this next time she's going to do much better," CMPD Officer Frisk said.
At house number two, 8-year-old Kinley waited on her 9-year-old brother Kyler to answer the door. Again, our stranger had no trouble getting inside.
After telling the kids what was going on and reassuring them they weren't in trouble, we talked to them about what happened.
"We made sure it wasn't a stranger," Kyler said.
"Just because he looked like he was the mailman that we still don't want to open the door because I want to keep you guys safe," Kyler's mom said.
So far, 0 for 2. Let's see what happened at the final house.
At this house, Mom and Dad have repeatedly talked to the kids about not opening the door to a stranger. Was it enough?
Stranger Dave knocked three times before they answered. The son told the stranger his parents aren't home -- strike one.
"You can put it there," he said.
But this time, they don't let him inside.
"I'm really glad that you did not let him, in but you probably never want to tell them that your parents aren't home," their mom said.
Again, our security team spent time talking to the kids.
"Let me tell you something you can say no to grown-ups," said Fisher.
Police said it is important to go over these safety practices, more than once. If children are tempted to open the door, teach them to call Mom or Dad on the phone to ask them if they are expecting anything.
They also suggested teaching your kids to yell to the stranger through the door that Mom and Dad can't answer the door right now, so it doesn't sound like they are alone.
Back at the Lashua household, the parents installed a Ring camera to give them a greater sense of security, but they know there will be more talking.
"I thought that was something I'd worry about in a few years. Not now. If they are old enough to open the door, you need to have a conversation with them," said Lashua.