As part of a social experiment, The Daily Mail, sent a “distressed woman” onto the streets to test how quickly people would intervene.
We’ve all been there, times when the pressures of parenting pack and stack up and we’ve lost our cool, screaming banshee lost our cool! But at what point would you intervene – particularly when it comes to someone else’s parenting. When is it right to step in?
MailOnline sent actress Chloe Driver out undercover on the streets of London with a baby buggy to discover whether anyone would step in when she became distressed and started screaming at her child.
The ‘undercover mother’ set herself up in public places, before shouting wildly at her ‘child’ and shaking the pram.
Many people barely gave the anguished mum a second thought. Some got upset, while others questioned why nobody stepped in to help. This doesn’t surprise me in the least, for many we go about our daily lives, head buried in the sand, blinkers up and often imposing social cues of politeness, its simply none of our business.
But what happened next made my heart sing when several pedestrians did step in and start up conversations with the spiraling mother. Some even shared a hug with her when they had finished. Way to go humanity! There are still some beautiful souls that are open and perceptive, to see past the judgement and to offer support, because lets face it we could all do with a hug now and then, someone to acknowledge we aren’t coping and simply ask the question, are you ok?
Ms Driver said: The experiment was very raw on people’s emotions because, obviously, it’s an innocent child. I’ve had one woman completely sob on me, and another woman was just left crying, so when you say it’s not real, they are just relieved.’
‘It takes a whole village to raise a child – and that village includes you. If you see a parent in distress, don’t walk on by but offer help. Even if they don’t take it, they’ll be reassured someone cared enough to offer it.’
We are all in this together and there is no such thing as the perfect mother, there will be moments you’ll look back on and wish you had handled it better, but with acknowledgment, understanding and support we can pick ourselves up, learn from the bad moments so that we are ready to tackle the next challenge better equipped and a smidge closer to that flawless goddess image of a mother we are all aiming to be.
