My four-year-old and I stopped to check on someone who was getting arrested today.
She had made it clear that she did want help, and I checked on with my kid as well before approaching.
The police officer tried to tell me off. "Do you think this is the kind of thing you want your kid to see? Do you think this is good parenting?"
Yeah, actually! If we see something happening that seems wrong, I want my kid to see me doing something about it!
@scroeser Hope everyone is safe now ❤️
I think police get upset when children see the police as they are. Last year my provincial government forced police officers into schools, against the policy of the elected school board. So many of the police statements about it were along the lines of, "we want kids to have a good opinion of the police, so we need to talk to them directly". They already have a hard time recruiting, they already feel ostracized, they want kids to like them at least
@beandreams well, while I was there talking a paddywagon arrived to take the woman away. So maybe not everyone is safe. But it seemed like having us stop helped her feel less alone for a while.
I never got brought up with the "police are your friend" idea - my parents grew up in apartheid South Africa and passed on their fear of police and understanding of them as part of repressive machinery of the state.
sky
Sarah dreams of beans