You put the fear of God in them (or your home equivalent) because this is the age where lots of teens experiment with theft. My daughter has told me that group of girls from her school go to malls and steal little trinkets just for the heck of it... in a wealthy public school district!

Maybe no phone for a week. No driving him to see friends, no socializing. For the day of suspension, make him do chores.

Not a real world job. I think the school should make them do a job unpaid until they pay off a multiple of the offense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your DC?

Did they tell you why they did it?

What consequence is the school imposing?

What consequence are you imposing?

DC is 13.

I don’t know yet why.

School plans to suspend him for a day tomorrow.

I think suspension from a learning environment is stupid (but will do it if that’s what they impose), but kid should have to work to pay back 2-5x the value of what they stole.

Do not make a 13 year old take a job.

My best friend stole from a store when she was in her teens. Just for the thrill. She got caught and was mortified. She’s now a successful CFO with three wonderful kids. Kids make mistakes and recover just fine.

Anonymous wrote:How old is your DC?

Did they tell you why they did it?

What consequence is the school imposing?

What consequence are you imposing?

DC is 13.

I don’t know yet why.

School plans to suspend him for a day tomorrow.

I think suspension from a learning environment is stupid (but will do it if that’s what they impose), but kid should have to work to pay back 2-5x the value of what they stole.

I never stole anything and I was never tempted too, but my DH says he did and he’s a good person. Idk, it’s one of those weird things.

Just bring the hammer down and hope it gets nipped in the bud.

Almond mom.

How old is your DC?

Did they tell you why they did it?

What consequence is the school imposing?

What consequence are you imposing?

Anonymous wrote:Are you starving your child? Why must they resort to stealing school snacks?

Probably not starving them, but it does make me wonder if they're being restricted in some other way. I was never allowed candy and stole my roommate's chocolate my freshman year of college like no one's business.

Kids who have the means and steal do so for the thrill, not because they actually need it. They want to see if they can get away with it.

When I was younger, I went to the mall with some friends whose family had way more money than mine did. They got a kick out of stealing little trinkets. I would've been terrified of doing that.

My niece from a middle class family stole cold medicine when she had a cold as a teen because she wanted to see if she could get away with it. It wasn't because she didn't have the money, or that her parents wouldn't give her the money for that cold medicine. I know she had a cold because I went to pick her up at the store. The manager was nice enough to not press charges.

She had issues in her family and had depression and anxiety.

She went on to get a masters and now makes six figures. About to get married.

I volunteered at a school event last year and many kids were stealing food. It was ticketed food. Some kids already used their ticket or didn’t ever have a ticket and kids were stealing food. I was shocked at this. When I told my husband, he made it seem like no big deal. He said that it something he and his friends would have done at that age.

It is not as big of a deal as you may think. Kids do dumb things.

Are you starving your child? Why must they resort to stealing school snacks?

Hungry!

Kids do dumb stuff sometimes. Their brains are not like adult brains. Hopefully he is sorry and learns from this and it's the worst thing you ever have to deal with!

I am flabbergasted. Never had an issue like this in their entire life.