When I first heard the term "Yardie", I thought the name derived from the fact that they ran their criminal business from their front yard.

This would have been perfectly understandable if I was 8 or 9, but I was about 18.

Jim, UK

I used to believe a burglar was some kind of non-human creature, so I once filled up a bucket with water, sawdust, and some other ingredients, which the burglar would inevitably eat and die from if he broke into the house. (I must have imagined that burglars were kind of like rats, which would be drawn to an appropriate poison.)

Andres Cabezas

We had a juvenile detention center right down the road from my house, and my father used to say that they'd send me there if I was bad. I'm not sure if I ever wholly believed this, but it sure looked like a cold and scary place. I really didn't like the idea.

Laura W.

When I was little I was convinced that if I went to sleep with my feet sticking out from my cover, then if a murderer came into the house and saw them he would kill me. For some reason, I decided that murderers were bound to break in one day. I still can't sleep without my feet tucked under!

rosemary

I thought that "statutory rape" were meant to rape a statue.

Anon

i used to believe from the ages of 5-12 that if you put too much toothpaste on your toothbrush that you would be sent to this all boys camp (whether you were male or female) where they would teach you the correct ammount of toothpaste to puton your toothbrush. i was only informed two years ago that it was a fake place that my mom made up just so we wouldn't go broke from me using too much toothpaste.

hygenic child

When i was 4, and had just started school, I learnt that people could breath through their noses (it never clicked in my head before!)
When i went to bed at night, I was always scared of being robbed and attacked, so I thought that if I lay perfectly still and breathed through my nose, a burglar would believe that I was already dead. I thought that all burglars were thick and that they didnt know you could breath through your nose! To this day, out of habit, the only way I can sleep is if I concerntrate on staying still in bed.

22 year old still sleeper

When I was little I heard my mom talking about someone "being behind bars" which means they are in jail.. Well.. I thought that it meant that they hung around behind bars.. Like where you go to get drunk.. Yeah I wasn't very bright!

Michelle

I shared a bedroom with my sister and the water tank was in the loft above and it would make shushing noises and I never knew what it was but I thought there were burglars outside our bedroom door whispering shush to each other.

Anon

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

Quako

When I was little I wanted to learn to ride a bike without the training wheels. My dad told me that if he took them off my bike he could never put them back on beacause it was against the law. I cried and cried untill finnally my grandpa told me he was lieing.

Kayla

When I was little, I had always heard that when people go to jail, they eat nothing but bread, and drink nothing but water. Naturally, since I loved eating bread, I thought that jail wouldn't be such a bad place to go.

Heide

When i was very little i thought "to sue" meant "to murder" I thought if someone stole from someone else, the victim could say " i sue you!" and they would be killed.

Erin

Our family lives in Douglas County, in Colorado, where there is this one correctional building. when i was in the second grade a boy in my class told me that that building healed all the pregnant criminal women, and when there babies were born the women could leave but the babies had to take their place in the correctional place.

i'm a second grade joke

One time when I was little I thought that I heard people in the house. I also thought that if I barked real loud like a big bad dog, they would go away!!! Go figure:)

Woo

I used to believe that in war movies, the soldiers of the bad side (for whichever war was the subject) were played by criminals, and the US side used live ammunition.

Ed

when i was 4or5 i thought if i was naughty i would get sent to jail.

JESSELEE GWYNNE (VICTORA)

I grew up in a very rural area, and there were signs posted on the neighbor's fenced property stating "No Trespassers - Violators will be Prosecuted". I used to think it meant that the penalty was death.

Kek

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

Mattio

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