A 8 year old is able to pull the trigger like any other adult. Look at the 10 year old who stole his moms car. The 10 year old Sao he did it because he likes to do bad things

8 year olds shoot people "by accident" not understanding that dead is permanent and 10 year olds sell crack and knowingly commit murders fairly regularly. I suggest hiding in a bubble somewhere, the modern world is scary.

32- they're job is actually not to assess the situation... that's the job of the police. If it was an actual robbery and the teller took the time to assess the situation and go get the manager the robber could have already killed someone or be long gone. Most bank robberies last only a minute or so. Most banks' policies on robberies don't leave room for judgement calls... you have to treat any threat as serious to protect everyone involved.

How was she suppose to talk to her manager? He told her to FREEZE!

The teller is a dim-wit because he actually thought an 8 year old was attempting to rob a bank. Honestly, how likely is it that a parent is going to put a gun in their child's hand and say "Okay honey, if you can rob this bank for me, I'll get you your favorite videogame!" Good Lord, the amount of uptight people on here is baffling. The fact that the mom wasn't arrested should tell you that the teller took this WAY too seriously.

Sorry I thought I was commenting on the post above this.

Just as a side note, because I am pretty in the middle of this controversy, parents use their kids to shoplift and all sorts of stuff anymore. I can see someone doing this for real..even as a reverse 'hostage' situation..

46 - the intention may not have been to actually rob the bank, but it could have been a real gun that the child took from mom and dad's gun cabinet without them knowing. A person being held up has only seconds to react, and usually isn't going to stop and ponder whether or not it's a toy.

57-It could happen, but it's highly unlikely that it would even happen, let alone be successful. To add on to my original comment, I'm not saying that the child should be swinging around a gun wherever. I'm just saying that the teller overreacted.

So, ManInTheMachine, what feature is it on a gun that makes it physically impossible for a child to point it at someone and pull its trigger? The next step is for you to answer, "None," so we can skip that. So, has no child ever murdered or robbed an adult, with or without an adult accomplice? The answer to that is "No," as well, so no need to wait for you to provide that. So, has no child ever been coerced by an adult to assist then in performing violence? If you've ever heard the phrase "child soldier" before, we both know the answer. But you're saying that the people in all these situations should have assumed the child in question was incapable of taking violent or criminal action.