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Police Urge Parents Not to Tell Bad Kids They'll Go to Jail

Should Children Be Taught to Fear or Trust the Police?

Posted by Durham Constabulary on Friday, May 22, 2015

This poster was recently shared on the Durham Constabulary Facebook page, urging parents to teach their children to run to the police if they're in trouble, rather than run away for fear that if they're bad they'll go to jail. So basically, telling your son he's going to go to jail if he doesn't eat his broccoli doesn't fly with this police force. The post has been shared over 60,000 times, however, not everyone seems to be agreeing with the post's message.

While there were many commenters in support of the poster, like Corinne Greener, who said, "The police are always there to help those who need it parents should encourage their children to respect the police they might need them in the future," there were quite a few who were not so on board with this idea of the police being regarded as friendly and helpful. Commenter Jeff Rowse wrote, "Telling them they will go to jail IF THEY ARE BAD is wrong how? Surely that is the major reason for having a police force?? And jails?"

The debate sparked by this simple poster is ongoing, and we want to know what you think.

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