How To Talk To Your Toddler About How Paw Patrol’s Officer Chase Has Been Complicit In Police Brutality Via His Silence
By Felicity Silver
Op-ed - So your 3 year old son tells you that his favourite member of the Paw Patrol is Officer Chase, the German Shepherd police dog. What do you do now?
As a ‘woke parent’ during these trying times, it seems like the obvious solution would be to simply tell little Mateo that he is a bootlicking piece of shit for glorifying that hellhound who serves simply as a cog in the capitalist’s machine of oppression.
“Paw Patrol? More like PIG Patrol,” you may want to shout at your infant son.
Don’t.
Moments like this are an excellent opportunity to hold a candid, and raw discussion with your toddler about the fact that all police officers, from his Uncle Vince to the CGI-rendered puppies on TVO, play a part in the continuation of systemic racism plaguing our country every time they put on their uniform.
“But Chase is a good doggie, he isn’t throwing tear gas at protestors. Chase only helps to direct traffic during an emergency, and finds missing animals when they are lost,” your child may respond.
It is not your child’s fault for possessing this level of ignorance. If your child is under 6 years of age, they simply have not developed the cognitive abilities to see through state-run propaganda like this.
You need to explain to him (or her) that Officer Chase’s individual good deeds do not undo the crimes committed by other officers against the communities they swore to protect.
Even if Chase is the goodest of good boys, it has been made very clear over these last two weeks that many of his colleagues are not good boys. By Officer Chase not speaking out against these bad officers, he is allowing the cycle of racism and toxicity to continue within policing, and thus is a direct part of this problem.
Your toddler will no doubt thank you for enlightening them on how problematic they have been in the past, and will tell you he no longer wishes to wear his favourite Paw Patrol underwears and would like you to burn them as a motion of solidarity.
But what your baby may not understand, is that the road to reconciliation is paved with forgiveness.
Explain to your child, after nap time, that the two of you will sit down together and pen a letter to the creators of Paw Patrol, demanding that not only would you like Officer Chase to give a formal apology for his past silence, but that you would also like to see an episode of Paw Patrol where Chase and the other puppies formally denounce their white privilege.
It is only through doing this that we can raise our children to live in a world free of oppression and hostility.
Join me next week when I explain how to show your children the way to play Animal Crossing: New Horizon as an ethical vegan.
Felicity Silver is The Toronto Harold’s resident woke activist/mommy blogger. She can be seen every Wednesday on The Marilyn Dennis Show, where she shows Marilyn how to blending your own baby food at home can help dismantle the patriarchy.