For Natalie Morales, reporting on Dateline’s “My Kid Would Never Do That” hit home on several levels.
“As a parent, it was a totally eye-opening experience and as a journalist, there are so many lessons that we should all be watching and learning from this series,” she tells TVNewser.
The NBC series puts children in a variety of decision-making situations — on topics like stranger safety, driving under the influence, cheating and discrimination — while their parents watch the events unfold via hidden camera. The first installment, which airs Sunday, features Morales’ own son and two of his friends, which she said was “pretty scary to watch.”
“I have these conversations with my kids,” she said. “But it really comes down to how will they do when they’re put to the test.”
The “Dateline” series was in the process of being developed last summer when an eight-year-old boy was abducted and killed in Brooklyn after getting into a car with a stranger. Morales said that news resonated with her, making her reporting even more poignant.
“That whole story just scarred me so much as a parent,” she said. “I was so disturbed, and we were starting the series at the same time.”
Morales says she loves all of the four installments, calling them “must-see TV for parents to watch along with their children.”
“Of all the things I’ve worked on, I’m so passionate about this because I am a parent and a journalist,” she said. “It’s so important to our country and to raising our kids with healthy attitudes and great confidence.”
The first installment of “My Kid Would Never Do That” airs Sunday night at 7pmET/6pmCT.