I used to believe that when people said a criminal was going to "the slammer," that the slammer was some sort of machine that crushed people. So when Boss Hogg would state that he was going to put those Duke Boys in the slammer, I actually thought that he meant to execute them.

Anon

I understood that what I heard in stories wasn’t necessarily true, so I didn’t believe thieves actually existed.

Bjoern

I too thought that rape was when a man came up to a woman on the street & tore off all her clothes. I had a good reason for believing that, though -- it was what my Mum told me when I asked her what "rape" meant. To this day, I still have that image when I hear the word, even though I now,unfortunately, know better.

Susan

I used to believe that if I went to bed with my glasses on I would be more on guard against thieves and wierdos in the night.

Dee Mac

I used to believe that criminals were a breed of cattipilar that were master minds as I thout the two names looked simalar!

Quako

I used to think the words Prosecute and Execute both meant the latter. Needless to say i didn't often tresspass as a child.

Nathan

I used to believe the crime of "Murder" was when when someone had been killed by being shot up bottom with a shotgun.

LS

I used to believe that all 'bad people' (criminals) were short, unshaven and ugly and wore black-and-white striped shirts because that's how they were always pictured in storybooks. If only it were that obvious in real life!

queeneve

When I was a kid, I used to beleive that "There is always a law against doing anything interesting." .... and still today, i cant resist beleiving it..

Asim Qadri, Karachi

many years ago my husband andi were discussing peter sutcliffe's arrest. we said,"oh, he will plead insanity"insanity this" "insanity that"
our daughter, who would be,ooh probably 10 yrs old at the time,said but what has santy(claus) got to do with it?
then again, i always thought, as a child, everyone was happy when they got married. how wrong was I

maureen bell

When I was about 8, I heard the term 'kerb crawling' on the news. Upon asking what it meant, my mum informed me it was when people were walking along a kerb, trying to break into the cars parked in the street. I held this belief for about 10 years after that!

anon

I used to believe that Bill Stickers was a real person! I thought he must have been really bad because he had his name plastered all over town and they kept saying he will be prosecuted.I felt sorry for him. I used to imagine what he looked like. Maybe he was on the run from the police or something.

Christine M, Wigan

Underneath The Westway road in West London the phrase "BILL STICKERS WILL BE PROSECUTED" was stencilled on the pillars in big black letters. I used to believe that Bill Stickers had done something for which he was going to be prosecuted, but I though it was really unfair that his fate was being advertised so publicly.

Anon

When I was little, I thought rape was when a man would approach a woman on the street and tear off all her clothes. (No sex, just ripping off her clothes. I didn't know that sex was something that anyone other than mommies and daddies did together.)

Anon

I used to believe that if i behaved badly i would be taken away in a yellow van.

Mattio