Poor behaviours from kids..

[Mudball]

Interesting conversation with family friends. They got a call from the school that the kid (< 10yr) was among a number of other boys who had their bags searched after other children complained of missing pencils, rulers, knick knacks. I think the family was distraught but had spoken to the kid. We know the family and the boy is usually well behaved. Looks like part of the problem was because the kid wanted to fit in with other 'cool' kids. They had the latest pencils while he did not. I dont know how the family or the school is dealing with it, but i found the root cause very interesting (read disturbing). At such a young age kids get into the have-v/s-have nots, 'cool-v- uncool' images.

I am sure when i was a kid, I might have had a sticky finger at some point. I think i got a proper thrashing (let alone a clip on the ears) from my Mom which kicked that habit even before it started. These days, you cant treat kids like that. As i have a nipper in that age group, I did a bit of research and found these two articles v useful

https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/primary/behaviour/stealing-and-lying/
https://www.parents.com/kids/development/social/dealing-with-stealing/

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Both interesting articles and make sense. The key is to make sure that your child knows it is wrong, very wrong. If they keep doing it after that then it is likely to be attention seeking behaviour I suspect.

Trying to fit in is something kids have been doing for years, adults as well when you think about it. You would like to think they know where the boundaries lie but when you are young those lines can be blurry in the midst of social pressure. I had nice friends so did not have to go impressing the cool kids, no I was never a cool kid , but it must be hard for kids who may feel lonely and want to be part of a group. I hope your friends resolve this, hopefully it was a one off and this will have scared the life out of him. Being caught and humiliated once is usually enough for most kids.