I have had it with the theft that goes on in our schools

There's that.

ess, it obviously would never happen, given the opportunity for said civilian guards to have access to naked young people. Each one would have to go through a background check, etc., you'd have to hire guards to watch the guards to make sure they weren't stepping inside the locker rooms when there were children there, and just in general, no one would ever allow this idea to happen.

dg64 said:

Does locker room have doors that could be locked after kids have exited to be in gym? If not, could doors be installed? Is there a plan to fix/replace lockers with malfunctioning hardware?

@rudbekia, it's all theoretical. I wouldn't want random people there, either. But somehow monitoring the area might be a deterrent. Or not. Who knows. It's maddening, really.

How do other schools handle it? Assuming theft is as rampant at other schools. Face it the kids do it because there is no fear of getting caught, its seems like easy pickings and there are no consequences.

This is a problem that is not addressed. The people who do it know there are no consequences because CHS does nothing to crack down on it. Therefore, it has continued. If it happens, report it to the school and the police. Theft does occur here and there but shouldn't be rampant where our kids go to school in what is supposed to be a "safe" environment.

I asked my freshman about this issue and she said a kid she know had his sweatpants stolen from his locker, and girls she knows have had the contents of their lockers rifled through routinely.

What's the point of lockers?

sportsnut said:

How do other schools handle it? Assuming theft is as rampant at other schools. Face it the kids do it because there is no fear of getting caught, its seems like easy pickings and there are no consequences.

That's not true. If caught stealing, the consequences are rather drastic and for the record they do often enough get caught.

Not often enough, or punished severely enough, apparently.

8675309 said:

sportsnut said:

How do other schools handle it? Assuming theft is as rampant at other schools. Face it the kids do it because there is no fear of getting caught, its seems like easy pickings and there are no consequences.

That's not true. If caught stealing, the consequences are rather drastic and for the record they do often enough get caught.

Then why is it still a problem? There isn't enough of a deterrent or do the kids just not care if they have a record.

When my son's phone was stolen I did press charges against the kid who stole it. It was very apparent from the environment that he was growing up in he was not going to learn the consequences of his actions.

Im glad you pressed charges sportsnut. Years ago at mms someone stood over my shoulder and saw my locker combination. I kept nothing in there but would arrive to my locker locked opened and full of garbage. Administration was slow to react and back then they had a "boys will be boys mentality". I wasn't a "tough guy" but this one little piece of sh!t kept laughing everytime he saw me cleaning the garbage out of my locker. I went up to him and told him and everytime I came back to my locker and it was locked open i was going to kick his ass. Literally pummel him until i broke my hands. I didn't care if he was the one doing it or not. He was now responsible for my locker being left alone. If he knew who was doing it it would be in his best intrest to let them know that its time to stop. It took mms costodians 3 days to change my lock. After my chat with the pillar of society no one touched my locker. Is violence the answer? No. But i have visions of this kid crapping in his pants as he picked the garbage out of my locker praying that i had a class on another floor.

could kids be allowed to bring their backpacks into the gym, and line them against the walls, after they change -- so that they aren't left vulnerable in the locker room, where the locks are apparently useless? Both of my kids (male and female) had stuff stolen from locked lockers.

sportsnut said:

8675309 said:

sportsnut said:

How do other schools handle it? Assuming theft is as rampant at other schools. Face it the kids do it because there is no fear of getting caught, its seems like easy pickings and there are no consequences.

That's not true. If caught stealing, the consequences are rather drastic and for the record they do often enough get caught.

Then why is it still a problem? There isn't enough of a deterrent or do the kids just not care if they have a record.

When my son's phone was stolen I did press charges against the kid who stole it. It was very apparent from the environment that he was growing up in he was not going to learn the consequences of his actions.

I'm not sure how to answer your question or what specifically your question is.

There is a deterrent that includes being expelled. However, to some kids the threat of being expelled is no threat at all. I'm not sure what else you'd like to see happen. Prison? For stealing a few bucks and a set of headphones?

Columbia H.S. is a great school but it's not a country club. All told, I believe your child will come away from Columbia a little more savvy, a little more alert than perhaps a child who attended school elsewhere.

I went to an expensive New England private school - talk about a bunch of kleptos! Not condoning it at all but I do suggest my kid keep his lunch money in his shoe.

Personally i'd be reticent to potentially ruin a middle schooler's life over an iphone and would rather give him or her the chance to apologize and/or perform some act of contrition prior to potentially ruining their lives. Some kids don't get iphones for hanukkah or christmas, or ever.

justlaid....off

agreed

justgotlaidoff said:

Personally i'd be reticent to potentially ruin a middle schooler's life over an iphone and would rather give him or her the chance to apologize and/or perform some act of contrition prior to potentially ruining their lives. Some kids don't get iphones for hanukkah or christmas, or ever.

You think having society "call out" the youthful perpetrator of a crime could potentially RUIN a middle schooler's life?! Good lord, there is a reason military schools are so effective.

Thieves, especially young ones, need to take ownership of their actions. The decision to pursue them in court is in no way malicious or vengeful or aimed to RUIN the life of an "innocent" middle school student. It is to give them a wake-up call that we will not be victimized by them.

Hence the apology and/or act of contrition part, in lieu of tthe incarceration process.

elle said:

could kids be allowed to bring their backpacks into the gym, and line them against the walls, after they change -- so that they aren't left vulnerable in the locker room, where the locks are apparently useless? Both of my kids (male and female) had stuff stolen from locked lockers.

This is a great idea, and they could take them out to the ropes course or onto the field if needed too. Seems like it would solve the problem.

justgotlaidoff said:

Hence the apology and/or act of contrition part, in lieu of tthe incarceration process.

I would much prefer to let a judge (who knows the juvenile's past history) decide what is appropriate.

kmk said:

justgotlaidoff said:

Personally i'd be reticent to potentially ruin a middle schooler's life over an iphone and would rather give him or her the chance to apologize and/or perform some act of contrition prior to potentially ruining their lives. Some kids don't get iphones for hanukkah or christmas, or ever.

You think having society "call out" the youthful perpetrator of a crime could potentially RUIN a middle schooler's life?! Good lord, there is a reason military schools are so effective.

Thieves, especially young ones, need to take ownership of their actions. The decision to pursue them in court is in no way malicious or vengeful or aimed to RUIN the life of an "innocent" middle school student. It is to give them a wake-up call that we will not be victimized by them.

You write as if you're speaking for everyone. How are you to know if someone isn't taking someone else to court for malicious or vengeful reasons? Plenty of people do it and they do it for a variety of reasons.

What does that have to do with anything?
I stated how I would handle a known middle-school thief.

If you are suggesting a "slap on the wrist" apology is preferable because there are already mean, malicious, vengeful people out to get middle-school thieves I think that is some convoluted thinking.

What is the penalty for being caught in a theft? What exactly does the school do? If he's an athlete, does he get kicked off the team, for instance? Are they made to do work around the school, like picking up garbage around the field? What actually is the repercussion?

algebra2 said:

I do suggest my kid keep his lunch money in his shoe.

This makes me sad. I somehow hate to have to tell my kid that he has to be careful because his classmates might steal from him. Ugh.

jayjayp said:

What is the penalty for being caught in a theft? What exactly does the school do? If he's an athlete, does he get kicked off the team, for instance? Are they made to do work around the school, like picking up garbage around the field? What actually is the repercussion?

it's handled case by case. From counselling to suspension to expulsion to criminal charges... Theft is never treated lightly.

dg64 said:

algebra2 said:

I do suggest my kid keep his lunch money in his shoe.

This makes me sad. I somehow hate to have to tell my kid that he has to be careful because his classmates might steal from him. Ugh.

better to let your child know the world is not a big playground before they find out the hard way. If you leave your things unattended they will be stolen. Sad, perhaps but this is the world we live in.

justgotlaidoff said:

Personally i'd be reticent to potentially ruin a middle schooler's life over an iphone and would rather give him or her the chance to apologize and/or perform some act of contrition prior to potentially ruining their lives. Some kids don't get iphones for hanukkah or christmas, or ever.

Agree with you about this if it is a first time offender. Hopefully there are systems in place that involve counseling and family involvement. But what if they are repeat offenders? This is such a gray zone.

8675309 said:

dg64 said:

algebra2 said:

I do suggest my kid keep his lunch money in his shoe.

This makes me sad. I somehow hate to have to tell my kid that he has to be careful because his classmates might steal from him. Ugh.

better to let your child know the world is not a big playground before they find out the hard way. If you leave your things unattended they will be stolen. Sad, perhaps but this is the world we live in.

Clearly, if kids leave their stuff unattended, they should suffer the consequences. What I am understanding from the OP is that locking stuff in gym lockers is also not adequate. The suggestion to keep lunch money in shoes seemed quite extreme to me and hence my comment.

Forget about the counseling. They know stealing is wrong. Put the offenders to work around the school, or take away something they care about.

Is it that kids who are not in gym at the time are the ones suspected of stealing? If so, can an aide be posted at the locker room entrance to preclude kids from going into the locker room, or can that door be locked? I don't know the setup of the building, so I'm just wondering.