When stores have a grand opening and put those huge spotlights out front and light up the sky with them - I used to think that this was how the police would look for & catch criminals that had gotten away by plane or helicopter. Somehow I did not find out that this was a promotional thing until.....adulthood. (Maybe there was something like this on Batman?)

Anon

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

Richard Davies

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

Nathan

When I was five I thought I would go to jail because I ripped a dollar bill in half. I hid it behind my toy chest for the longest time.

Molly

When I was younger there was a 50 year old man jailed for 60 years. I thought that if he died after 30 years, his body was kept in the cell for another 30 years.

Helen

I used to believe that if you tried to buy something and then at the counter realised that you didn't have enough money you could go to jail.

Giggy

When I was a kid, I was a bit confused about the word 'prosecuted' and consequently thought that prostitutes were all people who had been caught trespassing. You know, "Trespassers will be Prosecuted."

Girl X

I was confused between babysitters and kidnappers. I couldn't understand why people would rather have someone watch their kids who sits on them and hurts them than someone who makes them nap.

Anon

When I was four my preschool class walked down the street to the capitol building to visit the governor. Our governor was under suspicion of embezzlement at the time and apparently I had heard bits and pieces of what this entailed. I told my teacher to hold onto her purse tightly so he wouldn't steal it.

Sarah

i used to belive that if you swore you would be arrested

kd

I used to think that on Friday the 13th, the government would send Jason out to kill random people and I was afraid he'd come to my town someday

Jake

Whilst watching re-constructions of crimes on the the t.v. i could never fully grasp what sort of person would film an armed robbery, rape, murder etc rather than doing something to prevent it. I am not willing to say how long this moral dilema troubled but suffice to say i was enjoying a pint in a pub (leagally!) when i was given an explanation for their lack of morals!

Helllen

I used to believe when i was 6-8 years old that the criminals in the prison ate spiders with bread, i think why my father told me that so i was scared to go into prison .. Now i can laugh about it

Olivia

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

LS

When I was 10-12 and the world news would talk about "Software Pirates" or "a person was arrested for pirating computer software" I thought they seriously meant the pirates from the seas and I thought that the pirates from the boat were planning to steal videotapes, software or music.

Anon

When I was about 6 I was afraid that someone might break into our house and kill us while we slept. I figured they would use an axe, for some reason, so I always slept under four or five blankets, for extra protection.
Anytime it rained, I didn't worry about the killer that night, because I figured he would wait for a non-rainy occasion.

this is just the beginning...

I always used to believe that a robber would break into my house somehow and come into my room and steal all my stuffed animals. I had this one stuffed bear I got from my parents for Valentine's Day, and I was so scared that a robber would steal it from me. I seriously contemplated putting a sign around its neck that said "Please do not steal, very special to owner!" (Like that really would have stopped a robber who wanted the bear), but I never did because I guess I thought this would make the robber mad and he'd try to kill me, lol.

I really was crazy.

When I was little and I heard rape mentioned on TV, I misheard and thought they were saying "rake." I assumed it must mean hitting somebody with a rake. I wondered why this crime would have its own name, and why people would get in so much trouble for it.

Not afraid of rakes anymore

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