The thread running on respect for the police reminded me of this one:
A primary school teacher asked her class to write what they knew about policemen.
One boy wrote: Coppers iz bazzdads.
Shocked at this she arranged for the police community officer to come to the school and give the children a talk about the work of the police. He duly arrived, gave the children a talk about his work and handed out free paper police helmets, balloons and lollipops.
The next day the teacher set the class the same assignment to see if their views had changed.