SC, funny you mention this story. My mom dropped me off at kindergarten one morning. She got that weird feeling that Mom's can get after she saw me go in, so she waited around the corner. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, I came strolling out of school. When she asked me where I was going, I told her that the teacher hadn't shown up and I was going home (having to cross East 233rd Street in the Bronx, which was definitely a major thoroughfare).

She walked me back to my classroom and found complete and utter chaos. The teacher hadn't shown up, there was some mix up and there was no sub. My mother swears that the kids were swinging from the light fixtures. There was also the vomit domino effect going on.

I think the principal must still hear my mother's voice ringing in her ears.

As for kids not listening to the "stranger" story, 20/20 did a special on this very subject. Although the parents swore that they had lectured their children on the dangers of going off with someone, an undercover reporter approached children in a park saying that he had lost his puppy, and could they come help him look for it. Without fail, virtually every kid walked off with him.