who would steal a coat from school!

[Anonymous]

A few weeks ago, on one of the days that seemed niceish but got cold, my son (2nd grade) went to school with no jacket on. He came home with an UnderArmour sweatshirt that was DEFINITELY not his. When i asked where he got it he told me it had been in the lost and found for weeks (lost and found has racks in between his classroom and the rest of the school - so he walks past it to PE, library, cafeteria, playground, etc) and since no one wanted it and he needed one at recess, he took it. We had a good talk about how, even if it's in lost and found, you can't just take things. When I went to return it the next day I was shocked at the lost and found - tons of coats and sweatshirts and light jackets and sure, some were Target brand, but there were also much more expensive brands there. I saw three North Face coats that looked in really good condition. Who doesn't try to get these back? That's really good money being thrown away!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've never had a coat stolen but we did once have a brand new beach towel taken at the pool. It was laying on a lounge chair with the rest of my kid's stuff - shirt, pool bag, etc. So it wasn't like it was picked up by accident, it was obvious that it belonged to someone. Never did show up in the lost and found.

Yes. Annoying isn't it. In our case some boy/man took my dd's pink waterbottle from the lounge chair and drank from it (drank from full to a quarter) and then left it in the men's shower room. We wouldn't have found it if not for my husband when he was changing out in the male washroom!!

No shame and no consideration. It even had a girls name tagged on the cap. Creepy or disgusting either way how people are brought up!

That man - WTH?! I hope your kids steer clear of the weirdo!

Yeah. I wished we could have seen who it was! We just hope it wasn't a man but just a ill mannered boy. But we did boil and sterilize the whole bottle because the cap/nozzle was still wet from him drinking it! (Unsure if it's saliva) Just to be sure and safe....

Gross. I would have tossed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, OP. It always bothers me when things go missing and never turn up at the lost and found. For the most part, my kids have been around affluent kids and communities. And, my kids only care about their stuff. It is hard to believe these kids would steal and the parents would not know that John's coat that he brought home is not one that you purchased. I would send it back to school immediately. My son came home one day with $5 that he said another kids gave him for being his friend. I am glad he admitted it to me. I put the $5 in an envelope with the kid's name on it and told my DS to give it back to him first thing next morning. On the few occasions that DS came home with something that wasn't his that he said another kids gave him or he traded something of his, I told him to give it back. Most of the time he is only concerned about his things. So, yes, it has really bothered me the few times DS' things went missing. Because I ultimately blame the parents who are either complicit in not ensuring their child return what is not theirs or they actively participating or condone stealing, which is sad.

So your kid somehow just got $5 from a kid for being his friend. The kid gave it to your son out of the goodness of his heart? Your kid did absolutely nothing wrong in procuring this money? Gottcha.

And your solution is to tell your kid to give it back, while simultaneously complaining about other parents who don't ensure kids return property that isn't theirs?

Words fail me.

Ha. Kids do that! They'll give each other stickers, candy and, yes, even money. I had to explain to one of mine that it is not o.k. for kids to be swapping money like that. One of mine purchased cheap little homemade trinkets from a friend and sold some of his own homemade trinkets to other kids.

Do not assume that kids have a great concept about money, they don't. A shiny penny might be more valuable to them than a tattered one dollar bill. It's worth keeping an eye on, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few weeks ago, on one of the days that seemed niceish but got cold, my son (2nd grade) went to school with no jacket on. He came home with an UnderArmour sweatshirt that was DEFINITELY not his. When i asked where he got it he told me it had been in the lost and found for weeks (lost and found has racks in between his classroom and the rest of the school - so he walks past it to PE, library, cafeteria, playground, etc) and since no one wanted it and he needed one at recess, he took it. We had a good talk about how, even if it's in lost and found, you can't just take things. When I went to return it the next day I was shocked at the lost and found - tons of coats and sweatshirts and light jackets and sure, some were Target brand, but there were also much more expensive brands there. I saw three North Face coats that looked in really good condition. Who doesn't try to get these back? That's really good money being thrown away!

I know... same for our school. No one seems to claim them so no wonder its tempting for kids too! And ours has overflowed over the bins, spilled all over the floor. There are columbia, north face or gap down coats, backpacks, lunch boxes, thermos all being stepped on and kicked (because some were on the other side of the wall!) and some has fallen behind the cupboard etc. Such a pity. Its wrong but I can totally see why some would just grab one. Since no one cares or wants them anyway? Our schools says they clear them and send it but it doesn't seem to have happened. I have seen just the other day summer clothes as a sunblock lotion bottle on the floor.

[Anonymous]

At the end of the year the school has a Come to the Lost and Found and get your stuff or Lose it day.

I would not assume that it is o.k. to take items (that don't belong to you). Some parents work and some kids just don't think to go to the lost and found. Doesn't mean the items that sit there for a while are up for grabs, free for the taking. Plus unless you make it a habit to scope out the lost and found you will have no idea if the item just got put there or has been there for months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the year the school has a Come to the Lost and Found and get your stuff or Lose it day.

I would not assume that it is o.k. to take items (that don't belong to you). Some parents work and some kids just don't think to go to the lost and found. Doesn't mean the items that sit there for a while are up for grabs, free for the taking. Plus unless you make it a habit to scope out the lost and found you will have no idea if the item just got put there or has been there for months.

Agree. 0746 here. For me, as a volunteer, I have called numbers on the coat, spoke with parents and either left them for pick up at the office or make an effort to have it brought the kids class and bundled with their kids things hangers. But these kids or parents don't seem to even bother to bring it home! And these are from junior grades (fine they are kids) to middle school!

Others, with no numbers etc, we can only hope they pick it or lose it. And we are not talking about a couple of coats here..... I had in just these 3 months alone, gather 5 garbage bag full of clothes, backpacks, stationery etc!

And i have thrown away approximate two garbage bags worth of lunch boxes, water bottles and other stuff. Its just so wasteful and as a parent, i know how much each of these cost. I have taken a few very nice lunch boxes home when it was time for clearing out but I have seen so many that I have given up saving any of them. But I never need to buy a lunch box/thermo containers ever again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the year the school has a Come to the Lost and Found and get your stuff or Lose it day.

I would not assume that it is o.k. to take items (that don't belong to you). Some parents work and some kids just don't think to go to the lost and found. Doesn't mean the items that sit there for a while are up for grabs, free for the taking. Plus unless you make it a habit to scope out the lost and found you will have no idea if the item just got put there or has been there for months.

Agree. 0746 here. For me, as a volunteer, I have called numbers on the coat, spoke with parents and either left them for pick up at the office or make an effort to have it brought the kids class and bundled with their kids things hangers. But these kids or parents don't seem to even bother to bring it home! And these are from junior grades (fine they are kids) to middle school!

Others, with no numbers etc, we can only hope they pick it or lose it. And we are not talking about a couple of coats here..... I had in just these 3 months alone, gather 5 garbage bag full of clothes, backpacks, stationery etc!

And i have thrown away approximate two garbage bags worth of lunch boxes, water bottles and other stuff. Its just so wasteful and as a parent, i know how much each of these cost. I have taken a few very nice lunch boxes home when it was time for clearing out but I have seen so many that I have given up saving any of them. But I never need to buy a lunch box/thermo containers ever again!

I didn't realize that there was even an effort by volunteers to find the owners of the Lost and Found stuff. In fact, I have always gotten the impression that it was up to you and your kid to keep track of that stuff. No way was the school going to do that for you. If you lost something - go to the lost and found. If you didn't claim it by the end of the year, it was donated. I have never heard of volunteers taking home items from the lost and found. That's news to me.

[Anonymous]

I'm the mom from the 10:26 post - believe me, I told him, and left no room for doubt, that he couldn't just take things from the lost and found, that someone might come looking for it and need it and it wasn't our property. (And, FWIW, this at least gave me a good idea to pass on to my mom for a Christmas gift for him - a new sweatshirt he can keep in his locker so he always has something.)

Our lost and found is such a pigsty. In addition to the perfectly good coats and outer wear, there was a gladware container with a moldy looking sandwich - THROW THAT AWAY!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the year the school has a Come to the Lost and Found and get your stuff or Lose it day.

I would not assume that it is o.k. to take items (that don't belong to you). Some parents work and some kids just don't think to go to the lost and found. Doesn't mean the items that sit there for a while are up for grabs, free for the taking. Plus unless you make it a habit to scope out the lost and found you will have no idea if the item just got put there or has been there for months.

Agree. 0746 here. For me, as a volunteer, I have called numbers on the coat, spoke with parents and either left them for pick up at the office or make an effort to have it brought the kids class and bundled with their kids things hangers. But these kids or parents don't seem to even bother to bring it home! And these are from junior grades (fine they are kids) to middle school!

Others, with no numbers etc, we can only hope they pick it or lose it. And we are not talking about a couple of coats here..... I had in just these 3 months alone, gather 5 garbage bag full of clothes, backpacks, stationery etc!

And i have thrown away approximate two garbage bags worth of lunch boxes, water bottles and other stuff. Its just so wasteful and as a parent, i know how much each of these cost. I have taken a few very nice lunch boxes home when it was time for clearing out but I have seen so many that I have given up saving any of them. But I never need to buy a lunch box/thermo containers ever again!

I didn't realize that there was even an effort by volunteers to find the owners of the Lost and Found stuff. In fact, I have always gotten the impression that it was up to you and your kid to keep track of that stuff. No way was the school going to do that for you. If you lost something - go to the lost and found. If you didn't claim it by the end of the year, it was donated. I have never heard of volunteers taking home items from the lost and found. That's news to me.

Like 1604 said, Our job was to throw away that "gladware container with that mouldy sandwich". By school policy, we are to throw away all food containers including thermo-insulated boxes. It was just such a waste as i know how much each of these costs. I could either bin it or keep it if i wanted to. Only non-perishables are to remain in the L&F bin.


Like one of the other PP, many parents work and don't have chance to come by and look. So our PTA tries to make an effort to call or have the things returned to the rightful owner. So we at the start of the school year, requests all parents to label with name, class and phone number. Of course, so do and some don't. Some put class and name but for privacy no phone numbers. Others chose to put phone numbers and initials. But no names or class.

Those that has names/class, we would pass it to the teacher.
Those with numbers we try to call.
Those without anything goes from the L&F box to the display table.


But practically only a fraction get claimed. I think we did our best. Just stating how our L&F in our school is just soooo crazy fully loaded with parents that don't seem to miss a north face coat or mind losing a whole backpack fully loaded with binders, stationery and anything else! They probably just have enough means to buy yet another without a blink of an eye.

[Anonymous]

Our l&f is also a mess of over flowing clothes and food containers with rotting stuff. Sometimes these containers of funtainers From. the younger kids are filled with milk and they spill open and leave a mess all over the coats and sweaters too. So the whole pile has to be discarded I think.

[Anonymous]

The Lost and found at our school is pretty raunchy. And coats with names and phone numbers on them -- half the time the parents do not want it back. We have had neighbors who moved leave their bikes in our garage -- when we tried to give it back they were like -- oh we've out grown that! OK great, we are not your storage bin!

[Anonymous]

Yes, I can absolutely see discarding old food containers and moldy lunchboxes. Yuk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had someone swap my north face coat for another at a restaurant. It was exactly the same colour and same size too. But it stank And smelled all sweaty and the zipper was damaged and there were some fraying at the sleeves. I am pretty sure it was deliberate because mine had lots Of perfume and it was only two weeks old. Definitely not something someone wouldn't realize.

I had to wear that coat home because it was freezing but it was in the bin the minute I got home..... You can be sure I never hung my Coat on a rack ever again and will always bring it to my seat!

So maybe if you found the coat in the lost and found, that could be what happened. The parents or the kid did a bait and switch. And left you with a stinky old coat....

[Anonymous]

When my daughter was starting eighth grade, she got really excited about this North face Jack if she really wanted so I paid the exorbitant amount for that jacket period then she put it in her gym locker. 1 day and went missing, it later was found out that the janitor of the school was going in and stealing girls jackets and taken them home for his personal enjoyment period They brought all the jackets back to the school and put them on code hook.So that parents could pick them up.But it was obvious that there was no way I was ever gonna let.My daughter wear that jacket again as He did terrible things with it.I just can't believe that an adult could be so heartless to steal a kid's A kid's jacket knowing how much it cost.The parents to purchase said Jacket Thankfully , he's in jail And facing being labeled a sex offender as well as doing time for his crime

[Anonymous]

When my daughter was starting eighth grade, she got really excited about this North face Jack if she really wanted so I paid the exorbitant amount for that jacket period then she put it in her gym locker. 1 day and went missing, it later was found out that the janitor of the school was going in and stealing girls jackets and taken them home for his personal enjoyment period They brought all the jackets back to the school and put them on code hook.So that parents could pick them up.But it was obvious that there was no way I was ever gonna let.My daughter wear that jacket again as He did terrible things with it.I just can't believe that an adult could be so heartless to steal a kid's A kid's jacket knowing how much it cost.The parents to purchase said Jacket Thankfully , he's in jail And facing being labeled a sex offender as well as doing time for his crime