Urban Legend1998

Mr Wexler:
Last week we discussed folklore as a gauge for the values of the society that created them. Today-- Today, we get more specific... A babysitter receives menacing phone calls, and, upon investigating them, she realizes that they are originating from an upstairs bedroom, the very room where she's left the children under her care to sleep. Now, who's heard this before? Hmm? [everyone raises their hand]

Brenda:
Well, that really happened to a girl in my home town.

Mr Wexler:
Oh, yes, I'm sure it did. I'm--I'm sure most of you grew up thinking that this happened to girls in--in all your home towns, but it didn't. You see, the babysitter and the man upstairs is what we call an urban legend. Contemporary folklore passed on as a true story. Now there are variations of this one going back to the 1960's, all of them contain the same cultural admonition: Young women, mind your children or harm will come your way.