It’s a flight of fancy most of us have had when we were kids, but when our children come up to us and say that they actually want to be a police officer, what do you say to them? If your child wants to join the police force, there are numerous options for them to go into, but how does it impact them, not just in terms of their health, but their frame of mind? And what if you have reservations about them going into this in the first place?
The Career Path
To be a police officer, not only does your child have to show certain skills and qualities in a personal sense, but in an academic sense too. This means that they have to start their career trajectory towards this earlier in life, if possible. There are qualifications that can help your child ease into the profession, such as an online criminal justice associates degree, but if they are serious about the profession, it’s not just about what’s on a piece of paper, it’s about demonstrating flexible and dynamic skills, not just in relation to the challenges they face on a daily basis, but technological and social situations that can test their very limits.
What The Job Can Teach Them (That You Can’t)
We view police officers as pillars of the community, and there are others that don’t have such a rosy opinion of the police force, so if your child wants to be a police officer, you need to deduce why they really want to go into this profession in the first place. A lot of people view being a police officer as an exciting role, but this isn’t always the case. As far as life skills are concerned, and if you find that there are gaps in your child’s development, being a police officer can promote independence, confidence, as well as critical thinking skills.
Is It A Safe Job?
We all know that being a police officer, regardless of role, comes with a lot of pressure, but even if they work from behind a desk, to walking the beat, there are numerous concerns in every environment, but in the modern world, where working pressures and contracts don’t last more than a year, as far as a cushy job is concerned, it provides numerous perks.
While we all love the idea of being a police officer on the face of things, this could be due to the fact that we’ve watched too many movies. If children want to join the police force, there are many ways, but it’s not just about being on the front line all the time. Granted, there can be numerous pressures from the internal perspective, but as far as job security is concerned, it’s one of the few roles out there where you can be properly looked after in the working environment. There are opportunities for progression, not to mention working in environments that are safer, but as far as life lessons are concerned for our children, being a police officer teaches so many different things.
