A policeman in the supermarket ,would you do this?

[girlfriend44]

This morning there was a policeman doing some shopping in the supermarket.

A family walked past and when the dad noticed the policeman in the aisle he said to his little girl.
Look there's a policeman. If your naughty round the supermarket he will take you away to prison. The little girl. Just listened and didn't say anything .
He made sure she saw the policeman and as said told her he would take her to prison if she was naughty.
The policeman never heard but I did . I was right by them
Would you do this?
AIBU to think it's a bit odd.

I always told my kids if they got lost, look for a policeman/woman or a woman in uniform that works in the shop

Police generally hate this. They want people to go to them when they need them, not be afraid of them.

Plus who would threaten their young child like this.

Ami the only one who is annoyed at the idea that the Police can put someone in prison?
Because they dint have those powers. They arrest people but then it’s a judge/jury who decides if the person guilty and sent to prison. Not the Police.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan excellent come back 😂😂

Yeah right. Given recent events in the Met Police I’m more inclined to see the police as an active threat to my personal safety.

Did the dad see you watching? Maybe it was performance parenting from an ineffective parent.

I was an Early Years teacher for 30 years and have adult grandchildren. I have always made a point of not lying to children.

He’s judging her by his own standards.

I hate this because we want to teach children police protect and catch
the baddies not out them in prison for being naughty such a stupid piece of parenting

Former officer here. I heard that several times when I was in uniform. I would gently take the parent to one side, explain why it's a bad idea, then get down on my haunches to have a chat with the little one's. They loved that. Sometimes had a few random Police stickers that I'd attached to a bag or pram, just to reinforce it.

Lesson delivered effectively with compassion to the adult, and making a child laugh was always good.

I've intervened a few times since I retired too. It's totally unnecessary and counter productive. Not had a bad reaction to a polite word either.

Oop🤣

My “thick” grandad used to say to me “Behave ya’sen or ‘bobbies will get thi” when I was a kid and we ever saw the bobbies police.

I have a guide dog.

Was staying in a hotel once, walking down the corridor and a mum with her two kids was just in front of us, they were misbehaving in some way and she said, “if you don’t start behaving now that dog is going to bite you.”

I said that he absolutely was not, and that in a world where guide dogs and guide dog owners are routinely told their dogs are bad, the last thing we need is parents telling their children to be afraid of them.

I doubt the little girl even knows what that means.

Such stupid parenting.

God forbid the child at some point was in trouble and was too scared to ask the police for help.

Our local bobby said exactly this when he heard someone telling a young child that he was watching to see if they were naughty. That if the small child was lost surely the parents would want them to go to a police officer rather than random Joe Public, and that they'd be way less likely to do that if they thought the PC would take them away and lock them up.

Came back to this thread to post something similar.

Not a guide dog, but I used to have a small, very well behaved, fluffy dog - unfortunately she recently had to be put to sleep at the age of 15 - and would frequently hear parents tell their children as we walk passed that if they misbehaved my dog would bite them.

Some people are incredibly stupid, unfortunately some of them are parents.

Sadly some dc are well versed in these things.

They can still detain you and stick you in a cell though, which in a child's mind amounts to much the same thing. Especially if you tell them about the special miniature cells in police stations specifically for holding unruly children.

There is a community hub in one of the local shopping centres and they are fantastic with that sort of stuff. They chat to the kids, let them wear their hats, colouring, stickers. They talk about what they do etc.

No, but you should certainly foster a healthy sense of “don’t think police officers are all good people who can be trusted to have your best interests at heart”

It's just really bad parenting.

Like parents that threaten to tell Santa their kid is being naughty to get them to behave.

Except it's worse because kids shouldn't be taught to fear emergency services.

Some people do this but it’s very unwise.

You want your kids to feel a police officer is someone they can approach for help - not someone to be frightened of.

And this would be fine if it were true

Yes it is odd. I am sure I have read things before that police discourage parents saying things like this as they want children to realise police are there to help them not to be scared of them.

I’m a nurse. I remember someone saying similar to a child. If you don’t stop messing the nurse will tell you off. When that child needed a nurse for a broken arm she was already imprinted to be fearful. Same with the police officer. If my kids are lost I want them to look for the policeman/woman to help. I don’t want them fearful.