criminals

I used to believe that jaywalking was walking around naked. I think it had something to do with the phrase "naked as a jaybird."

Sandra

We live in a state that gets threated by hurricanes every year, so on major highways and such we had Evacuation Route signs. When I was little I used to believe that escaped criminals put up those signs to tell their prison friends where to go. Whenever I heard about a prisoner breaking out of jail I wondered why the police didn't just follow those signs.

Kel

When i was younger i used to think that signs on gardens and business' etc saying tresspassers will be prosecuted meant that i would be shot and killed. Completely confusing it with executed. Needless to say i never went "tresspassing" with my friends.

scrads

I used to believe that if you were on trial and you told the truth, they would let you go, even if you were guilty

Anon

I used to believe when a person was convicted of a crime and sent to prison, his lawyer went to prison, too.

Tara

When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I thought that assault and battery happened when salt was poured on a battery. My lawyer wife loves this.

Anon

I believed that when someone "broke the law", that meant it was no longer a law. Congress would have to make the law over again. What a lot of work!

Vicki J.

When i was younger i must have been told that people who went to jail didn't go to heaven. I interpreted this as people who go to jail wouldn't die.
I was terrified of going to jail, i had visions of myself in jail thousands of years from now when humans were extinct and the land had been taken over by crocodiles that were coming to eat me...

Ashley

When I was young, I though burglars wouldn't rob your house if it was raining. They wouldn't want to get wet, would they?

Anon

You know how they say a crime in punishable by "up to x years in prison or y dollars fine? Well I thought when a person was convicted they got to pick which one for their punishment

Cyberdemon

When I was little I used to try to balance on the edge of the kerb as I walked along it.

Believing this to be "kerb crawling", my mum was pretty shocked when I loudly announced that this was what I was doing and that it was illegal!

Bassboy

When I was little, I used to believe that when someone was "drinking and driving", that meant they could be drinking anything. Needless to say, I got very nervous when my mom opened a cola while driving.

Jessica Tinch

For a few years i believed that there was a large man whos goal it was to make it to my house and capture me and that he would spend as much time on this as necessary. I believed that he could only make progress while i myself was walking or running(i.e. he could take steps only when i did). So this being the case i ran as fast as possible everywhere, especially in my garage where i believed the danger was greatly increased. He never made it, i think he knew i was onto him.

Ben

I used think being mugged was when someone knocked you out by hitting you with a cup, then stealing your money.

Richard Davies

I used to think that if our house was burgled the burglars would steal my teddy bear because they were obviously horrid people and would do it to be mean.

Anon

When I was younger I was always afraid my house was going to be broken into. I didn't want them to kill anyone, so when my dad opened the car door so I could get out (the child lock was on) I would dash out of the car and ring the doorbell madly, so all the burglars would know to get out of the house, and wouldn't become desperate enough to kill someone! To this very day I ring doorbells like that.

Michelle

When my friends slept over my house years ago I always made them sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. This way, when the bad people broke into my house at night and entered my room, they would be closer and, therefore, be murdered instead of me. I never told them this though, of course. They just thought I was picky on which side of my bed I slept on.

Anon

When i was small, after seeing a poster in mcdonalds, i thought that robbers were little burgers with blindfolds. It made sence because another name for them was 'burglars'

Emma

Wish this one was mine... my girlfriend was working in a daycare, where they had of course talked in circle time before about not talking to strangers. When you think about it, to a child, "strangers" come across to be a pretty evil bunch.
Later in the year, a police officer came in as a guest speaker. He was asking the kids why they thought he had different parts of his uniform. When he asked why he had a gun, one kid immediately blurted out, "To shoot strangers!"

Pink

I used to get very upset seeing reconstructions of crimes. I could never understand why instead of stopping the armed robbery/kidnapping/murder some heartless sod had just videod it instead. I was far too old to admit to before i understood the difference!

Hellen