Ticked Off! Thieves!
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
United States
March 7, 2007 8:35pm CST
Sorry, but I just need to get this off my chest and my husband isn't home from work for another 5 hours so I'm going to vent here.
My son had wrestling practice for school today and before they go into the wrestling room, they change and leave their things in the coaches classroom - a few doors away from where they practice. They do not have lockers for wrestling so this is his only option.
While he is practicing, there are some kids who are injured or for whatever reason, they are not practicing so they often times stay in the coaches classroom and do homework or just talk.
I have no clue why the coach doesn't just dismiss them for the day (it's after school anyhow) and tell them to go home so he can lock his room up.
When practice was over today my son went to get his things and noticed that someone had been through them and had taken his wallet out and stolen all of his money! It was only about $10-$15 worth but that's not the point. My son would NEVER think of doing such a thing so it has upset him quite a bit to think that someone was so disrespectful towards his personal belongings.
I'm pretty mad about it and as soon as we got home, I emailed the coach to tell him. My son didn't tell the coach because he's afraid the whole team will be punished and that the coach will bring up his name so the kids will be mad at him for telling.
I wish people would teach their children from a young age what it means to get and give respect. This world is lacking that from the current generation of teens and it really is a shame.
Thanks for letting me get it off my chest!
4 people like this
14 responses
@dreamr802 (985)
• United States
8 Mar 07
The same thing happened to the girls' swim team at my high school. My cell phone was taken along with some of my jewelry. Because all the lockers were already taken for the swim classes that everyone is suppose to take as a freshman and sophomores no swimmers had their own lockers if they were an upperclassman. I told my mom and my mom reported it to the super intendent, completely went over the coach's head. Because my mom had reported it, there was a section of lockers for the upperclassmen who were on the team, granted we had to share the lockers (2 to a locker) none of our stuff was stolen again. Don't worry it will all be fine for your son and the school might be inclined to put lockers in for them!
2 people like this
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Thank you for sharing your experience, I'm sorry it happened to you and your team but I'm glad you were able to get the school to make some changes for the better and for the kids in the future who won't have to go through what you did. Thanks for your kind words too, I'm sure my son will be fine - it just sucks that someone on his team did this.
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
8 Mar 07
It's very sad Heaven but standards and values like courtest and respect are a thing of the past. It's become a dog eat dog world. While for a lot of us the golden rule is still do unto others etc...for many its "Do unto others before they have a chance to stick it to you first". Or "finders keepers, losers weepers". People hear..."if you want something you have to be smart and strong and just take it!" and they take it literally. They are thoughtless, selfish and inconsiderate and think pranks like stealing while their teammates are otherwise occupied, funny.
The sad thing is, the kids who've been brought up right are becoming victims. It's becoming a bit of a dilemma.
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
You are so right. It is becoming such a sad thing to see.
When my son was younger I use to question the way I was raising him. I would see other children stepping on him and being mean or thoughtless in their behavior and I always taught my son to treat others how he wanted to be treated and to be respectful and kind. So when I would see those other children, I thought I was doing my son a disservice. But then more I thought about it the more I realized that no matter what, I would NEVER want my son to be like those children. Even if it means he gets stepped on from time to time.. I know in the long run, he will be the better person for the way he is and I'd like to hope he will reap the benefits of it later in life.
He's learning now that he can be a good person, a respectful person, a kind person .. and still not allow others to walk on him. I'm proud of him because that is something I never learned. If he knew who took his money, I have no doubt he would confront them and demand for them to give it back - and if they didn't he would find someone who would make them. He would do it the right way but at the same time letting that person know he's not going to sit still and let them steal from him. He's one of the larger boys on the wrestling team and there aren't many bigger than him so whomever stole the money from him had alot of nerve because if my son finds out who it was, that person is going to be intimated having to look up at a 5'9" 197 lb. kid and explain why they took his money out of his wallet.
Thanks for your post!
1 person likes this
@samtaylorskykierajen (7976)
• Canada
8 Mar 07
I understand why you are upset as I would be upset also . They should have lockers for them to put personal items in . No matter what we teach our children there will always be someone out there that won't teach there children that this is wrong and because of it your son ended up losing . He should not have to worry about his stuff while he is practicing for the day . They really should do something to find out who did this as whoever did it is sure to do it again because they were not caught and because there is not much chance of getting caught as the door is not even locked and there is no other place to put there stuff . This is just wrong no matter how you look at it and also money is not that easy to come by that we can even afford to lose fifteen dollars . It doesn't matter if it was fifteen or a hundred dollars , it still belonged to your son and this made it his .
2 people like this
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Thank you as well for your sweet, understanding reply. I hope my email will prompt the coach to start sending the injured/non-practicing kids home or into the wrestling room during practice and get him to start locking his doors. It never made sense to me why he allowed these kids to linger around in his room with everyone's stuff just laying around.
This was a good lesson for my son though.. and we always try to find the lesson or the positive in every situation. He won't be leaving his wallet in the room anymore and he has learned that not everyone is as respectful as he is towards other people and their belongings.
It's sad for me that he is starting to learn that the world isn't a good place. I know he knows this but I think when it starts to actually happen to you, you learn it in a different more personal way. Up until now he's really never had anything stolen from him so he's learning to be more careful.
Thanks again for your response!
2 people like this
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
8 Mar 07
That really sucks! I'm sorry your son had that happen to him. I was in high school not too long ago and that kind of stuff happened a lot. It's really sad that parents don't teach their children not to do that. My parents would have killed us if we had tried something like that! I don't understand why parents don't bother to teach their kids about things like respect. I hope you get to the bottom of this so it doesn't happen again.
2 people like this
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Yeah, it's a sad thing that kids do this. I'm so proud of my son for not being like that - not many parents can say that about their 16 year old son. My parents would have killed me too and my son knows I would be so disappointed in him if he ever did that to anyone.
I gave my son $15 tonight as a pay back for what he lost. He didn't want to take it - kept saying it wasn't my fault. I told him it wasn't his fault either and for him to take it because I was proud of him for not being like that and that it was nice to know my son would never steal from someone else especially his own teammate. He still didn't want to take it but I put it in his bank anyhow. :]
Thanks for your reply!
1 person likes this
@Connie1013 (1098)
• United States
8 Mar 07
You did the right thing. Stealing is wrong. If the team stole from him, they will steal from anyone on the team. I hope the coach finds out who did it.
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to respond. I agree with you that if this kid will steal from his teammate then he's sure to steal from anyone. I also hope the coach finds out who did it but I do not have high hopes for that unless someone who was in the room saw what happened and admits it. Kids do not like to speak up these days for fear of their peers doing something to them so I doubt anyone will admit to seeing this incident.
Thanks again for your response!
1 person likes this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
8 Mar 07
I am so sorry that this happened to your son. I hope the coach emails you back so you can get to the bottom of this. If you don't hear anything from him, you should probably call the school and speak with the prinicipal. Good luck, I hope it all works out for your son.
2 people like this
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Thank you - I hope he emails me back as well. I'm pretty sure he'll respond, we have a good relationship since this is my son's second year wrestling for him - we sponsor the team with a large check every year and he knows me from being the secretary for the football booster club.. so we talk on a pretty regular basis, he's just super busy right now getting ready for a huge tournament this coming weekend so I emailed him rather than called him. Knowing how he is, I'm pretty sure those boys will be reprimanded tomorrow when they show up for wrestling.
Thanks for the wishes, my kid is pretty good at bouncing back so I think he'll be o.k. - just chalking it up as a lesson learned. I was more upset than anything earlier because I have so much respect for the kids on the wrestling team - this threw me for a big loop. In my heart, I know it must be one of he newer kids because all of the other kids really get along with my son and respect him. I can't picture any of them doing this to him.
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12821)
• Australia
9 Mar 07
i truly understand what you mean and you are doing the right thing by reporting the incident... otherwise, the thief will just get away with it and will do the same thing again in the future with other people's belongings... hope the couch will find out who is the thief and be more cautious in the future... they really should have a locker for their personal belongings or they just have to carry their precious items with them when they are practicing to prevent the same thing from happening again...
1 person likes this
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
8 Mar 07
I know what you mean, During the summer time, some of the single parents have sleep overs at their homes to give the other mothers a chance to enjoy self, We started this 2 summers ago. One night I had 3 little boys over and one of them stole my son Gameboy, He didn't realize it until Sunday. I asked him to search everywhere and we couldn't find it. I finally went to each parent home and asked, we found it, thank goodness, one of the boys lied and said that he found it. But little did he know, My son name was on the Gameboy...
I told that mother that he was never allowed back in my home again. and we left it at that..
I know what you mean, I would be upset too, no matter what it is, if it's not yours you shouldn't steal it. I hope you went to the coach and they found the money. Or hopefully they now think about gettin lockers for the children while they are at practice...
That would burn me up as well. I hope you got the issue resolved by now...
@cjthedog64 (1552)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Ugh! I'm so sorry that happened to him. My SS15 had his cell phone stolen from his locker during wrestling practice a few months ago. Course, he hadn't actually LOCKED the locker. Duh. I can't believe that they don't have lockers for the boys in the locker room. Don't kids in gym class have to lock up their stuff during class? From the sounds of that school, I couldn't imagine it.
It is possible that the kids who were in the room, stepped out to use the bathroom or something and somebody else went in. I'm glad you told the coach about it. They should at least reconsider leaving the room open, like you mentioned. I always thought injured kids should watch practice to hopefully learn by watching.
1 person likes this
@dpk262006 (58679)
• Delhi, India
9 Mar 07
Whatever you have described is a shocking incident. I also believe it is the parents who are responsible for their wards. The habit of giving respect to others, the habit of not touching others' belongings should be inculcated in them, since beginning. Once they learn that to respect and to get respect are the most important things in a person's life, they would become a responsible citizen. In your case, if the culprits are caught, they should be given a sound moral teaching and must be told in clear terms, how it hurts when you steal others' belinging either seriously or may be in fun.
@awonderfullife (2893)
• United States
9 Mar 07
That is so upsetting--and such an invasion of privacy. The kids should be questioned until someone confesses. And then the thief should be suspended from wrestling.
Years ago I worked for a food service company and we had a locker room to change into our uniforms. I'll never forget the day I was chatting with one of the cleaning ladies and I walked away from my open locker to check myself in the mirror. When I stepped back around she was in my locker going through my purse. Since then, I don't trust anyone around my belongings. It's sad but true. I always keep my purse with me.
@huggiebear22 (2007)
• Canada
9 Mar 07
yes it seems that soem peopel seem to think change room sare liek ther eown personnel bank and mall my sons and there freinds have had money, cloths, jackets, shoes, ipods, cell phones , packsacks adn anything else you could think of taken form there locker in the gym during practices the school always say s there in nothing they can do about it I think it is BS and now most of them take there cloths into a bag adn put it on the gym floor where theycan watch it all the time
shame how a few have to ruin it fao all.
@retardedrugrat (4790)
• Canada
9 Mar 07
I think you did the right thing. If someone will steal from one of their teammates they'll steal from the whole team. Hopefully, the coach will find out who did it, and punish them for it.
It might be incentive for the coach to start looking at better security for the room.
It makes me angry that school kids have so little respect for other peoples belongings that they'll go through them and steal from them. The fact that it was someone on the team that did this, and so knows your son, makes it even worse.
I hope this gets resolved and soon.
1 person likes this
@Kchele (77)
• United States
9 Mar 07
Ugh! People! I know what your son is going through. When I was in high school I shared a locker with one of my supposed to be good friends. Well I had $5 come up missing. The locker was locked, the only other person w/a key was my friend. She said she didn't take it, but I know better. No one else had a key. When I said something to the gym teacher I was told it was my fault. I ended up getting a locker to myself. In this situation I blame the school or whoever is in charge for not having lockers. That is allowing whoever to walk in and take whatever they want. Is this on school property? If I was you I would make a complaint. If nothing is done it will happen again and again to people. Good luck on this!!!!
