They said it was a "Stranger Danger"PSA, I'm not so sure anymore...

Back during the 90s, my school used to make us watch a lot of films about random shit, about how to have the function of a normal human being. They were mostly about shit I already knew from home, all the basic stuff I'd learned in kindergarten. But there was one particular one I found that was really different from all the rest. I think it was from around '97, '98. I don't know, I was pretty much just a kid back then, and I don't remember much. I'm not sure if it really was an official educational film or not. But it still stuck with me, even if most of it is pretty blurry. <br><br>I remember we'd all been picked up by our teacher to go to the computer lab to watch a film. It was supposed to be a film about how to avoid strangers, but none of us were really paying any attention. That was until the film started talking.<br><br>The speaker was a young woman, and she spoke with a constant smile as she was talking to us. Except she wasn't really talking to us. While she was talking, she was busy doing various random activities. Sometimes she'd be painting, cleaning, baking, reading, and so on. While she was explaining to us how to handle strangers, she was also explaining how to do the random task she was doing.<br><br>She spoke in a soft, calm voice and she told us that at some point in our lives, we'd meet a bad person. A person who'd come in and try to ruin everything in our lives and hurt us and the people we loved. She then explained to us that if we ever met strangers, especially those who were lurking in the shadows, waiting for unsuspecting kids just like us. She told us never to go with strangers, no matter if they said they were cops, or had an emergency, or told us that our parents were dead. Never go with someone we didn't know.<br><br>While she was explaining this to us, she was busy painting the walls of her house. She was painting them a bunch of different colors and drawing flowers. She said that the paint she was using was so pretty that she'd have to keep it somewhere safe because she wouldn't want it to get ruined. She then went on to tell us that the most important thing for us was to keep our bodily paint safe. So when she was done painting, she put all the paint into a box and locked it with a padlock.<br><br>I don't remember what the next scenario was, but I know that I liked this lady and trusted her. She was trying to teach us how to be safe and I was happy that she was teaching me these things. She then told us that if a stranger ever asked us what our name was, where we lived, what our parents looked like, and so on. Then we should get away from them as quickly as possible and ignore them. Never try to help a stranger, as they might have ill intentions.<br><br>I don't remember much else, except that I think she talked about how important it is to keep our paint safe once again. I do remember that the film ended rather abruptly, and that was it. The film was done. While we were leaving the lab, I talked to some of my friends and asked them what they thought of the film. Some of them thought it was cute, some of them thought it was weird. I asked one of my classmates if he thought it was true what the woman said. He said it was definitely true and that strangers were always bad. <br><br>It was raining that day, so I had to wait for my mom to pick me up. One of the school guards said I could wait inside, but I didn't want to. He said it was okay, but that I should be careful and stay close. I said I would and sat down under the awning, looking out at the parking lot. It was dimly lit, like with candles or something, and I thought it looked pretty. It reminded me of the lady from the videotape. I thought about what she'd said about strangers and I felt a little nervous. <br><br>That was when I saw him. A tall, looming stranger. He was wearing a black coat with a hoodie pulled over his head and he was walking around the parking lot. I could only really see him because of the lights, but there was something about him that really made me feel scared. He didn't seem to be doing anything at first, he was just lurking. But as I looked more, I saw that he was doing something in the shadows. I couldn't see what it was. He was in his own little world and didn't seem to notice me.<br><br>I was about to go inside to tell the guard that there was a stranger outside when I heard a voice from behind me. "Hey kid, don't go inside, okay?" It was a deep man's voice. I turned around thinking it was the guard, but it was another stranger. He was a big guy with a black beard and sunglasses. I nodded nervously and he walked away. I don't remember where he went, I think he just walked away to his car and left. But I did as he said and didn't go inside.<br><br>When my mom came to pick me up I didn't tell her about the two strangers. I'm not sure why. I think partly because I was afraid, partly because I didn't think it was that important. A few days went by and I'd mostly forgotten about the two strangers. I think it was on a Wednesday that the same stranger came back. The one with the beard and sunglasses. He asked me if I remembered him, I said I did. He asked me if I remembered what he'd said, I said I did. He nodded and walked away. I don't know what he was doing there, but he didn't seem to be doing anything. Just lingering around in the parking lot. I saw him a few more times when I was waiting for my mom to pick me up.<br><br>I never saw the other stranger again. But weeks later, another film played during class. It was the same lady as before, except this time she was explaining to us how to feel better when we're sad. Sometimes when someone close to us died. She explained to us how to take care of ourselves, and that we didn't need to be sad anymore if someone disappeared. She also told us what to do if someone close to us was hurt. She then proceeded to show us how to patch up a wound on someone's face. I don't really remember it that well, but I do remember that the person was about my age.<br><br>We didn't see much of the person's face, and most of it was in bandages. But I think it was a girl. The lady was explaining that sometimes when someone was hurt, it was probably for the better. She then proceeded to take out a pair of scissors and cut away some of the girl's hair, before applying some ointment to the wound and wrapping bandages around her head. I don't think I'd ever seen something like that before. I'd never been hurt that badly, so seeing the lady patch up the girl's face was a pretty new experience for me. I don't remember much else from the film, except that the lady once again told us to take care of our paint.<br><br>This time, I wasn't the only one who thought the film was a little off. A lot of my classmates thought it was pretty strange, some even thought it was mean. But I thought it was nice, I thought the lady cared about us and wanted to help us. She just wanted to make sure we knew what to do if someone was hurt. The last thing I remember from that film was that the girl was taken away somewhere. I don't know where she went, but I don't think she was in another film ever again. I also never saw the stranger with the sunglasses again. <br><br>I'm not really sure what the point of this post is, but I think I just wanted to talk about my childhood experience with these educational films. It always made me feel a little weird, and I'm not really sure what the point of the films were. I guess maybe the lady just wanted to make sure we were safe, and that we'd be prepared for anything that happened in life. <br><br>&#x200B;