How people reacted when a 'homeless' child knocked on their door on Halloween
LONDON -- Halloween is the one night of the year when you'd expect to see trick-or-treating children on your doorstep.
But, what if a child knocked on your door to ask for help rather than sweets and treats?
This is what UK charity Retrak tried to find out on Oct. 31, a night when many children were out on the streets decked out in their Halloween costumes.
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The charity -- which campaigns to end child homelessness -- collaborated with creative agency Shape History to conduct a social experiment in which a child actor posed as a homeless child and knocked on doors in London to find out how people would respond when faced with a similar situation.
Nine-year-old Jessica Bray knocked on doors in a neighbourhood in north London to see what would happen if people believed they were faced with a child living on the street. Some asked Jessica what she needed, where she was going, where she came from and whether or not she was lost. Some people even asked her to come inside.
However, not everyone responded in such a way. Some locked the door, others asked why Jessica was knocking on their door and told her to knock on another door.
"We didn't expect such negative reactions from some people towards such a young 'helpless' child"
A spokesperson for Shape History told Mashable that the motivation was to provide an opportunity to document that people care about homeless children.
"We didn't expect such negative reactions from some people towards such a young ‘helpless’ child, but of course we we’re uplifted by others," the spokesperson said.
Jessica was briefed in advance of the experiment to ensure her safety wasn't compromised. Jessica's mum and the crew were outside the properties at all times and they were in contact with her via a radio.
The video producers chose a location where "money and capacity to support a young girl wouldn't a problem," the spokesperson confirmed.
While the experiment highlights the varying and often alarming responses people have when faced with homeless people, the experiment is not representative of the population.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
