Don’t teach children to distrust the police
Many parents are blind to the antics of their children, and they see their children as the sweetest, most attractive and most well behaved children in the world. They can do no wrong. The truth is, some children are absolutely obnoxious.
Editor’s note: This first ran in the Marietta Daily Journal on Nov. 11, 2011. Charlie Sewell has revisited and expanded on the original column.
In 1933, King Kong was headlined in a movie as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Since that time, he has appeared in numerous media as a giant and evil monster. Somehow, too many people have wrongfully conjoined the image of an evil monster with that of a dedicated police officer, a soldier or even a teacher.
To me, police officers and soldiers are the “Ninth Wonder of the World.” They are the giants who maintain the atmosphere where we can walk free. When in troubled times, people don’t call a drug addict.
Have you ever heard a parent tell a small child “See that police officer over there; he will GET you if you don’t behave”? I often wondered why the parent didn’t just say, “See that bogeyman over there?”
When this happened to me as a uniformed police officer, I always tried to drop to my knees so that I could be face to face with the child. It was a little awkward, but I wanted to tell the child I was a friend. I would usually get a grin out of the parent when I told the child that mommy or daddy might GET you, but certainly not me.
The intent of a parent offering up a police officer as a bogeyman to a child is a misguided attempt to discipline. Discipline, without inflicting pain, can be one of the biggest challenges of being a parent, and being a parent can be daunting, draining and discouraging.
Our government requires us to have a license to drive, get married, fish, hunt, fly an airplane and much more. But, there are no license requirements to pop out babies. Just because someone is biologically able to produce a baby doesn’t mean they are capable of handling the natural issues that come with being a parent. This is one simple rationale why some people shouldn’t be parents.
Good parents direct their attention toward their children’s proper growth to help them not only be successful and disciplined adults, but to develop emotionally and socially. Some parents love their children regardless of what they do, and some parents are not capable of loving their children. Parents are supposed to teach their children to follow the rules and to use acceptable behavior by using discipline when corrective action is needed.
Many parents are blind to the antics of their children, and they see their children as the sweetest, most attractive and most well behaved children in the world. They can do no wrong. The truth is, some children are absolutely obnoxious.
When discipline fails in the home, it is possible for children to learn bad behavior that will follow them the remainder of their lives. Some parents falsely claim that all teachers from the first grade through high school mistreat their child. They refuse to accept any personal responsibility, and they continue to blame everyone else including the bus driver, the principal, the police officer and sometimes their neighbors.
Common sense will show that the child is the single common denominator in cases like this. Parents have been known to call a school to complain about the teacher giving their child a bad grade. That almost suggests that teachers have bad grades that they keep in their desk drawer that they pull out for the students they don’t like. When I was in school, grades were earned, not given.
During my law enforcement career, I had many occasions to arrest a lawbreaking teenager. Years ago, a father might come to the police station to collect his child and the police officer had to keep the father from beating the child. Today, a father might scream and say, “What have you done to my child?”
Good parents want to protect their children, but protecting them from accepting responsibility for their actions is not preparing them to be successful citizens. Many parents don’t understand the difference between discipline and punishment. Children may pout when they don’t get their way, but in the end, all children need and want discipline. Children should be guided and taught realistic expectations. They should also be protected from things that will harm them. Teaching them to distrust law enforcement officers, educators and other public-service figures is a disservice to the world.
Parents can provide children roadblocks to life or tools to be successful. Teaching a child to respect the professional people who are in the business of helping is equal to providing them one weapon to protect themselves from life’s real monsters.
Charlie Sewell is a retired Powder Springs police chief. His book “I’d Rather You Call Me Charlie: Reminiscences Filled With Twists of Devilment, Devotion and A Little Danger Here and There” is available on Amazon. Email him at retiredchiefsewell@gmail.com.