7 October 2010
My 7 yr old son has been stealing. Everything from candy at the store to money from me. What do I do?
Posted by admin under: Grade-Schooler .
He even sneaks into my room at night and takes things that are only valuable to me. Keepsakes that have emotional value to me. I have punished him, ******* him, taken things away from him, grounded him, taken privalages away, thrown toys away. I have sat down and tried to explain why it is wrong. I don’t know what else to do. I’m running out of ideas. Please help.
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32 Comments so far...
CJ Says:
8 October 2010 at 1:05 am.
Grounding and ********. Those will get the message through that what he’s doing is wrong.
peace_love_granola Says:
9 October 2010 at 10:41 pm.
Call the cops on him… that’ll scare the bejeesus outta him!
Seriously- embarrasing the crap out of him WILL work. Whomever he’s stolen from, go with him and make him return it and apologize face to face. This worked for me when I stole a bottle of bubbles from someone and my mom found out. THat left me with a life long impression that I will never forget. It will work!
halo904 Says:
10 October 2010 at 7:35 am.
i think he needs therapy, there could be a deeper issue going on that’s making him want to steal.
Justin M Says:
14 October 2010 at 3:02 am.
call the cops n that nig he needs to learn wut it feels like to be a thief
LBee Says:
15 October 2010 at 7:26 am.
Take him back to wherever he stole the item and make him return it and apologize. This will embarrass him.
debbiethurstonhumbert Says:
18 October 2010 at 2:14 am.
sell him to the Gypsies
Amanda L Says:
21 October 2010 at 12:44 pm.
tell him that you have a friend that was just like him when he was younger and he ended up getting killed when he was 20 because he stole too much. Tell him that if he does not stop that he will prob. end like him
♥
Florida Man Says:
24 October 2010 at 2:46 pm.
Military school!!!!…My oldest, granted not doing those type of those things, has joined the marines….he’ll be a better man for it!
lawrence Says:
26 October 2010 at 6:30 am.
get a belt and smack him
twysty Says:
27 October 2010 at 1:03 am.
Take him on a trip to the police station and let a cop tell him what happens to people who steal, worked for my son. He is 6
linda d Says:
28 October 2010 at 3:46 am.
call the cops…scare him a little then put him in therapy…a 7 yr old should not be stealing!!!
FaerieWhings Says:
28 October 2010 at 8:27 am.
Pick one or two things and be consistent. Don’t use so many different punishments that the kid doesn’t know what’s going on.
If he steals from a store you should have him write a formal letter of apology, return the item and apologize in person. That will embarrass him and make him less likely to do it again.
****************
I like the idea of calling the police.
nbatch2006 Says:
30 October 2010 at 6:14 am.
maybee you should look into counciling. or you could have the local police come out and talk to him maybee scare him alittle
Suhnrise Says:
1 November 2010 at 4:25 am.
I suggest family therapy. You have to stress how important it is that he don’t do such things otherwise you will not be able to trust him. Does he have a new sibling? Is there anyone around who is mistreating him like an older brother? He may be trying to get attention, but more than likely it’s deeper than that and counseling might really be beneficial. Good luck!
foodguru Says:
1 November 2010 at 4:40 am.
Some kids lack self-control. They might see something they want and take it. They don’t stop to think first about what might happen. They might not think to buy the object or ask to borrow it. Kids get better at self-control as they grow. Some kids may need extra help learning self-control.
Some kids steal because their friends or family members do it or because they might have been dared. They might believe their friends will like them more if they steal. Doing something for these reasons is called peer pressure, but kids don’t have to give in to it.
Some kids steal because they feel something is missing in their lives. What’s missing may be love or attention. Or simple things like food and clothing. They may be angry, sad, scared, or jealous. They might steal as a way to deal with the situation. But stealing won’t fix what’s missing.
Other kids might have personal problems that lead them to steal. They may feel jealous of what others have. They may feel unloved and neglected. Or they may be upset that their parents are arguing or getting divorced. A kid might steal, in this case, to make up for something that’s missing. But stealing won’t solve these problems.
Other kids don’t care about rules. They steal because they think they can get away with it. They may believe they deserve to have the stolen goods. But kids need to learn respect rules and the rights of other people.
tas-okay Says:
3 November 2010 at 10:31 am.
This sounds like a very serious problem. You need to take him into your family doctor first and depending on what is said there; most likely he will need some kind of counseling. Good Luck!!
Dawn H Says:
6 November 2010 at 4:42 am.
I know this may sound drastic, but maybe call the police dept and ask if they would kindly come by, and maybe pretend they are going to arrest him. They can then talk to him and tell him they will let him go. (or you can walk in to the dept and tell them your son has been stealing from you.) It can be a minor drama production.
He needs something to really shake him up to make him understand how important this is.
The things you are doing are not important enough to him, to affect his better judgement. You have to get drastic.
rhonda s Says:
7 November 2010 at 9:52 am.
7 YEARS OLD? I have a 6 year old, he would get his A#$ beat off!!
Kelly Jay Says:
10 November 2010 at 9:20 am.
Yes everyone might say ******** but this seems to be a big problem He is 7 years old and should know by now that stealing is wrong. My son is 5 and knows better. I really don’t ***** him. It’s about talking and other forms of disclipine.He needs to know that that is wrong and can get you in big trouble. You wanna get it now before he gets older and gets in trouble with the poilce. It seems like you are doing all the right things. I told my son one time that the police was coming to get him he tried to take some skittles.
Smitty Says:
11 November 2010 at 8:52 am.
Sounds like he is trying to tell you something much deeper…. get him counseling.
theangel1025 Says:
13 November 2010 at 3:31 pm.
It’s going to take awhile to undo 7 years of poor parenting but if you start being consistent with the discipline now he should straighten out over time.
sanmandude1 Says:
13 November 2010 at 9:25 pm.
Hes just a little boy… thats what they do at this age… just relax it will be great stories to tell when he gets older.
classyladyonly Says:
15 November 2010 at 7:27 pm.
Oh boy i did things like that when i was a kid! My parents smacked my **** soo hard! But i don’t think you can do that these days. They did take away privileges from me for 6 mths at one time and i never stole again ever because other kids were doing all these things and i couldn’t! Learnt my lesson boy!
violetblue418 Says:
19 November 2010 at 1:07 am.
Talk to your local police station! They might be able to have an officer come talk to your son. Maybe take him to the local prison or juvie and show him around? That way he can learn that there are more things than spankings and time outs for stealing.
Man that ***** though. Really *****.
There was a little girl in line in front of me once, about 5 years old. Her mom told her she couldn’t have this candy bar and so she put it back. Once her mom turned away she put the candy in her pocket. I immediatly told her mother. I don’t think that little girl ever stole again……
Jessy9 Says:
21 November 2010 at 11:14 am.
Beat tha heck out dat kid! Whip him with the belt. Whatever you do, dont give him “timeout.” this never works and when i was a kid almost all of the kids who got timeouts said “whocares i’ll only get timeout” before they did something wrong.
solitude Says:
23 November 2010 at 8:29 pm.
Next time when he steals something, you make sure he brings it back to school. In a way, he will know that it is wrong to steal.
Also, if this does not help. Bring him to a local police station and have an officer talk to him. Maybe it will scare him.
chilli gun Says:
26 November 2010 at 10:30 pm.
2 words… a ss
whoopin….
samara_kittykitty Says:
28 November 2010 at 11:48 pm.
Go everywhere with him and watch his every move! Hide your things in a place you know he will not look! Lock his door after he goes to bed at night! Lock windows and all other ays he could escape his room, call the police like I have suggested in your other question about him hurting other people. Only you can do it, it’s for your child and for his sake of life! Only you can do it. (Possibly your wife…? If you have one?) I wish you great luck.
terry Says:
1 December 2010 at 8:45 pm.
MY 17 Year old niece does this all the time.She has quite a variety of muliple learning problemsHer brain does not work properly.Maybe while what your son is doing wrong he cant help itand may need investigation. from specialists.Please get help for him now before it is too late.
melissa s Says:
3 December 2010 at 4:49 pm.
make him go to the store he stole from and apologize and write a letter to store owner, i did this with my son, we got the manager and had him explain what he did, he never stole again,
GAI Says:
5 December 2010 at 4:20 pm.
He is acting out for a reason, what’s the reason? Is his father in the picture? If not that could be a huge reason why he is acting out. If this is the case you need to get him a Big Brother ASAP. Boys (and girls) need a male role model and without one they tend to act out in negative ways. The bad things he is doing have nothing to do with anything, they are just cries for help.
STYREE Says:
6 December 2010 at 9:07 pm.
DEAR YOU ARE GOING TO GET THE FAMILY IN THIS JUST NOT YOU OK TAKE CARE YOU CAN NOT DO THIS BY YOUR SELF OK. PS YOU NEED TO PULL HIS PANT DOWN AND ***** HIM UNTIL HIS BOTTOM IS REALLY RED AND WHERE HE CAN ONLY SIT ON A PILLOW DO THIS FROM FRIDAY SATURDAY ONLY HE WILL GET THE MESSAGE AND USE A PADDLE THE ONE LIKE WE USE TO HAVE WHEN WE WAS A CHILD THE ONE WITH THE BALL ON IT TAKE CARE OK GOOD LUCK GET FAMILY IN THIS ARE IT CAN BE A REALLY BAD PROBLEM LATER IN HIS LIFE OK CHECK OUT THE FRIENDS HE IS HANGING WITH OK THAT TOO.