Do you put punishment to a child who steal?
By marctiu
@marctiu (829)
Philippines
November 9, 2009 10:54pm CST
Today was a really tough day. It was raining hard. I went to the mall and then I have parked my car in the mall's parking lot. I was very surprised that some when I came back from the mall the car was open. I was afraid because some things are gone. I really have no idea who opened the car and who took those things. The important thing that was gone was the keys. I was very lucky because one of the mall's customer saw a child with keys on his hand and trying to fit it on everyone else' car.
We did get the trace of that kid and then we found out that he was with his mother. When we ask him where the key is he lead us to many places and played dumb with us. It was so annoying. If only the mother was not there I would have spank that child. I also think that the mother is the mastermind of the child. I really think that parents should be responsible for the behavior of their children as well.
At least no one got hurt.
In you're in the same situation. What do you do? Do you give punishment?
1 person likes this
18 responses
@sunilparthan (6283)
• India
10 Nov 09
hi dear friend see if a child is stealing then the main thing what we have yo do is talk to the child very calm and try to change the mind of the child from stealing speak to him with some love care etc then he will not do it again
@vingyan06 (2486)
• Malaysia
10 Nov 09
Hi There,
Now we can see many children stealing and they steal even from very young age. We the parents can do is give advise to the child and let them know what will happen if they get caught. We do not want our kids grow to be a thief. Parents and school education are equally important to make sure the kids are not going to steal for what they want.
1 person likes this
@syndrix (475)
• Malaysia
10 Nov 09
Hi "marctiu", in my opinion I think children steal because of some reason. First of all, a person/child stole maybe because that is his/her illness. Second, maybe due to crisis around the world and poverty that these child is force to steal just to relieved hunger. It is true living in a big cities where you don't have worked is very hard to some parents to feed their children that's why and maybe this will be cause and no wonder you were one of the victim being stolen. However, a child/adult stole is still stealing and it must be tolerated. In some Arab countries a person steal the punishment is to cut the hand or finger(s) depends on the value of things he/she stolen. That's why these countries stealing case is extremely very low. Unlike some other countries in Asia if someone caught stealing he/she will only put in jail provided how much the worth he/she had stolen. After number months he/she will be freed again. So the situation is will just come and go, meaning if caught stealing put in jail and then release after sometimes. The doer will keep on repeating and repeating again and again. I think it should be the Government first who should take action and makes a seriously bills so that it will be more effective. In addition, I think the Government also should revised its penalties about stealing in your country so that thief will realized the consequences. Lastly the parents also must be the model to their children and that is of course their obligation and responsibility as a parents. Happy myLotting
1 person likes this
@armanseikh88 (211)
• India
10 Nov 09
firstly i talk with him if he accepts, i leave him with a warning but if he again do this than i give him any hard punishment because some time punishment makes you a good person in life. have a nice day.
2 people like this
@rjvb26 (2518)
• Philippines
10 Nov 09
yeah you are right but make sure you give a positive punishment, because if you do very bad punishment, put the law into your own hands and something bad happens to the child. I assure you, the law will be looking for you, it is still a child LOL. You'll be in jail for that, no matter what the child did to you, it is still a child and it is on the law. happy mylotting
1 person likes this
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
11 Nov 09
Of course. Doing nothing about it says to the child "Its okay to steal, honey. You go right ahead" You also need to find the reason for this behavior so it can be stopped. I have a child who I worked with for years trying to get her to stop taking things. It took me a good bit of time to see her problem was some crazy sense of entitlement that she should get whatever she wants for nothing and it took me another good bit of time to get that silly nonsense out of her head. Things have gotten much better and Its been some time since anything mysteriously disappeared.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215189)
• Chile
10 Nov 09
What I would do would depend a lot on the child´s age. And in my country it is unthinkable to leave the keys in the car. We leave our cars closed and take our keys with us. Even more, if we have any thing that could be thought that is of value, we put it away in the trunk of the car. We take away thew radio and place it where is not seen.
I´m very sorry about the tbad experience you had. I imagine that after this you will not leave the keys inside your car. It can even be stolen by teenagers.
Take care!
@GaryJoule (211)
• China
10 Nov 09
If I were you, I would tell his mother how serious this case is for a child, which type people would his child grow up to be.
If this child lead us to many places just for playing and his mother do nothing, I doubt it's just because of his mother's connivance to his son,she's not a qualified mother, I won't spank his son, but I would call police.
1 person likes this
@lubeimao (118)
• China
11 Nov 09
You are lucky ,because your car is still there .I have got this kind of child too.They are stealing ,and if you give them punishment or you shout at him ,maybe they will fight back ,and in china some of children are forced to do this kind of things,and every day they will be given some task,if they do not complete the task ,they will be beaten,so they must steal ,and sometimes they will fight back with a long knife.I saw the boy who was about ten years old stealing ,but i keep silent ,because he have a long sharp knife.I think the most improtant thing for you is not give punishment ,if you can call the police to do with this kind of things ,or you call for government to do with ,it will be better.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
11 Nov 09
Yes parents are responsible for their children or they should be. How old was this kid? I would have been all over that mother's case. I think you probably are on the right track with this one. IT does sound as if the mother is behind it I think you should have gone to the cops. If that was my kid....he would have been in serious trouble. What I would have done for punishment....I'm not sure but it would have been something that fit the crime.
1 person likes this
@rg0205 (2636)
• Hong Kong
10 Nov 09
Unfortunately, some parents do conspire with their children in committing crimes. Would I punish a child who steals? Yes, I would. If I knew the child I would most likely take away something he/she likes. If I didn't, it would depend on the situation. With what happened to you, I'd call security or maybe the proper authorities if there was proof available.
I wouldn't hit the child because I could also be charged with child abuse.
1 person likes this
@triplejazzm51 (1373)
• Philippines
10 Nov 09
I think children steal because they were not taught by their parents what is good and bad. Poverty also is a contributing factor, and this points again to the parents. Parents who are not able to provide their children the basic needs push their kids to commit crime. Parents are responsible for their children and they should be the one to be punished.
1 person likes this
@rjvb26 (2518)
• Philippines
10 Nov 09
Ang tigas ng nanay nun ah! O well i think i will asked the police to do their thing, and asked them to put the mother in jail. The child is still a child, if they were raised to be like that, it is not their fault it's their parents. If they were asked by their parents to do that, of course they will do it because their parents told so. That is why, i will punish the child by means of getting her mom into the prison.
@cheezy_rockstar (25)
• Philippines
11 Nov 09
I would recommend telling the child that what was done was wrong. But I would not recommend spanking. That is so medieval.
1 person likes this
@yaashmin (42)
• India
10 Nov 09
Hi yes if i see small who got the situation of stealing I would catch that kid and I will anlyse the situation of that kid and his or her backgroumd and then I will advise them from my heart to reach them and atlast i will return the thing what they stole from me.. bcoz it would feel them guilty... thats it... Punishing them only hurts them and creates angry in them and increases their stealing mind more... So we have to teach them lessons not by punishing them but by advicing them. ok bye. have a nice day...
regards
yaashmin
1 person likes this
@happy2512 (1266)
• Philippines
10 Nov 09
If the mother is the one mastering what the child is doing then spare the child from the punishment it should be the mother who is responsible for such behaviour. Whatever the adult is doing even if it is wrong in the eyes of the child they thought its right so its should be the parents who will guide the child of what is right & wrong.
@Simon1223 (903)
• China
10 Nov 09
Personally speaking, I don't think spanking the child by yourself is a sensible way. It's the parents who should responsible for the behavior of their children. So if someone should be punished for it, it should be the parents, not the child. If my child does something wrong, I would punish them in order to let them learn lessons. Such punishment only apply to children who are too young to know the rules. When they grow up, they will gradually know whether their behaviors are correct or not.
1 person likes this
@Fulltank (2882)
• Philippines
10 Nov 09
Stealing in any form is still stealing. Who ever did it, it is still stealing. In your case, it would be appropriate to report to the mall security so that they can give the correct actions. Normally, parents are the ones who had given the reprimand about their child's behavior. They would also knew if the parents are behind this unscrupulous act.
1 person likes this
