Children’s Perspectives About the Police Come from Their Parents
Some people never taught their children how to act with law enforcement, and it shows sometimes. Let’s all pay more attention to how we talk about the police and first responders around children. When it’s appropriate to be real with kids, let them know from a real adult perspective, the role of law enforcement, how important it is to act right around them, and how to know and assert your rights without causing problems or escalating conflict.
A simple example is a parent telling their kid who may be a new driver, about a time they were stopped for speeding or something, and how the police officer acted and what they said. If your parent says, “The cop is just doing their job and they are ready for people pulled over to be angry, but if you have a good attitude it’s so much easier.”
Teach your kid that the police are just doing their job and never take it personally if you have an encounter with them and they seem to be giving you attitude. You have no idea what their day has already been like and who they’ve already encountered.
Teaching the Concept of Preserving the Peace and Protecting the Public
If you have the attitude that law enforcement is hunting you as you constantly dodge the police for whatever reason, your kids are more likely to develop a perspective that police are predators. Kids can also pick up a shaded perspective that everyone’s parents dodger the police as well, also not helpful.
When you take a moment whenever the moment arises, let your kids know that law enforcement is just one of the roles police play, and their main objective is to preserve the peace and protect the public. That means everything from traffic control, safety issues with traffic, and all kinds of other duties in their jobs. Make sure your children understand that there are good and bad people in all lines of work. Help your kids understand that the police are there to help them and they are the good guys, even if it feels popular to think otherwise.
Does Your Kid Need to Hear a Lawyer Tell Them What Jail Is Like?
The “scared straight” type boot camp programs for troubled kids in the 90s showed some teens what it was really like to be behind bars and that should be enough to make kids never want to become part of the criminal justice system. They can also benefit from knowing that even though the juvenile justice system is more rehabilitative, and the penalties don’t seem that scary, the real consequences in the adult system are not something to play with.
Letting your child know what can happen to them if they get in trouble is good parenting. Call your criminal defense lawyer in town and have them tell your kid what happens in the juvenile and adult criminal justice system, what probation is really like, and how young lives are impacted by convictions and conditions of sentencing.
For Criminal Defense Consultation Contact GSB, LAW, PLLC in Denton
Pretend Everyone is Wearing a Camera and Audio Recording Equipment
Parents today joke about being happy about growing up before everyone had cell phones and recording devices. It is no joke today, there are cameras everywhere and audio recording devices are likewise all over, including inside the police car. Teach your child that if for whatever reason they end up in the back seat of a police car, do not say more than they need to and if they decide to run their mouth and overshare their present sense impressions with the officer, there is likely a recording being made. That might not sound so smart later, all those comments made.
Your Kids Should Know Their Rights and When to Assert Them Appropriately
You do not have to give police consent to search your vehicle, and that’s something many people teach young drivers. But that does not mean the police cannot quickly find independent probable cause to search, and a K9 unit could be involved. So maybe you forgot to explain how exceptions to laws work, and your child is turning up the volume and attitude asserting their rights and increasing the potential for a bad experience. Where nothing more than a tag light was a problem, a resisting charge can result from a bad attitude. Know how to be appropriate.
How to Say No and Without Resisting or Being Difficult
Teach your child that nothing is set in stone. If something is wrong with the vehicle stop or the circumstances in which they encountered law enforcement, it can be settled later, such as in court. Children need to realize that police are there to do their job and they can make mistakes like anyone else. If the police make a mistake, it will get sorted out later and that is the job of the criminal defense attorney, making sure the police and the charging prosecutors are following proper law and procedure, and doing justice right.
Everyone Has a Job to Do, Police and First Responders As Well
First responders, police, and fire authorities work for all of us, and their jobs can be hard. When first responders come across people in trouble, people in peril, their safety is the priority. If first responders believe someone is overdosing on fentanyl, for example, they are trying to help the person and that is the priority. There is a time, to be honest when it comes to saving lives, and there are too many unfortunate stories of overdose deaths because kids are afraid of getting in trouble. Parenting right, means teaching kids some realities about the world. They’re better for it.