Probably, you’ve been wondering why kids steal. No good parent will be happy to see their kids steal. Stealing is a social vice that society and communities all over the world frown at.
Like any other negative act done by kids, there are various answers to ‘why kids steal’. If you’ve been a parent for a while chances are your kids should have a fair share of the ridiculous things kids do – among which stealing is included. children steal for different reasons; some are worthy of attention while some are quite ridiculous.
Why Kids Steal
Little kids steal a lot as a result of poor impulse control. It’s a developmental stage; they want it, and they take it. Older kids often steal, too. Your child is probably not evil or destined for a life in prison.
The scope of this article will be about petty, occasional small-scale stealing.
Children steal for any number of reasons – below are some of the reasons why kids steal:
1. Poor Impulse Control
Little children are only able to exercise frail control over their impulses. They have little control over their desire and so their thinking is like ‘I want it, I take it.’
2. Peer Pressure
Another reason why kids steal is to look cool and impress their friends so that they can feel among themselves and be welcome.
3. Kids Steal When They Want Something
Children steal when somebody else has a one-of-a-kind something they want or need.
4. Kids Steal As A Way To Retaliate
In many cases, a child steals in order to get back at somebody, for example, stealing a bully’s lunch money.
5. Can Afford What They Want
Kids steal for a lot of reasons and of the reasons why kids steal is being unable to afford something they want. Often, children steal when they want or need something, they don’t have enough money, and you likewise can’t afford it.
6. They want what they can’t tell their parents to buy.
A key reason why kids steal is the fear of requesting a purchase of something from their parents. Possibly, kids steal when they’re afraid to ask their parent for the money for a particular object or feel too embarrassed to purchase it such as a condom or a bra.
7. Kids steal for illegal purchases
Kids steal when they may not be able to legally purchase something such as beer and cigarettes.
8. Kids steal because it’s fun
Naturally, kids enjoy taking risks, and in a society that is careful to protect kids as much as possible, stealing provides a risky, thrill-provoking activity. So, little kids steal for the risk and thrill involved in the act.
9. Kids Steal during times of stress.
What else is going on in your child’s life? Are they going through unnecessary stress? A prolonged time of stress is one of the reasons why kids steal.
What To Do If Your Kids Steal
Stealing is not acceptable. It’s embarrassing, shocking, and angering. Most parents often blame themselves when their children steal. The best thing to do is to try to separate yourself from the action when your kid is caught stealing.
Understand that the fact that your kid is stealing is not a direct reflection of your parenting skills. You can relax your mind knowing that most kids only steal occasionally, as a crime of opportunity. And most do it poorly which is why they get caught in the first place.
Whether your child is caught stealing or you catch her yourself, here’s what you can do:
1. Use Disapproval
Immediately make it clear that you won’t tolerate this behaviour. No, it’s not okay.
Kids steal as a behavioural experiment and if the feedback isn’t enjoyable, they’ll be affected deeply by the experience which causes them to stop stealing.
2. Talk With Your Child
As stated earlier kids steal for many reasons. So, it’s the duty of a parent to try to determine why they stealing, what the motivation is, if this is a regular thing and if they’ve done it before.
Avoid grilling, berating, embarrassing, scaring and ridiculing your child unless you want the conversation to end with you gaining any information at all.
3. Talk About Values And Ethics
Remind them of your family value and what society expects of them. Keep this part as concise as possible, not a lecture, just a reminder.
4. Create Fear
Saying things like – “People who steal things can go to jail, not if they’re little kids, and not usually for small things, but you could be arrested.” Will create fear of stealing in their mind. As a parent, let your kid know that an arrest, trial, and jail are possible outcomes of stealing
Let your kids understand that you are watching their behaviour, that they have lost some trust, and that they need to re-earn it.
5. Let Them Make Restitution
Have the child make restitution, helping them if you need to. This means they need to return the merchandise or pay off damages if the stealing is done elsewhere from your home.
Having a child make restitution will teach him or her the desired lesson but didn’t have lifelong consequences.
6. Remove And Return The Stolen Item
Let your kids know that stealing is unacceptable, illegal, and wrong, and removed the stolen goods. Make the kid that steals return the booty, they will likely feel bad about it and steer clear of such an act.
6. Assess The Situation.
Be honest with yourself. Is there a pattern here? If your kid is stealing frequently, or the stealing is combined with other misbehaviours, you might need to review your parenting style or seek professional help.
Wrap It Up!
Now you know the reasons why kids steal and what to do about it. As a parent and ally of your kids, your job is both to discipline, teach your child not to do it again, and protect them.
If your child needs to pay off damages and they don’t have any money, you can pay the damages and have them work off their debt. Be fair now! Consider keeping the consequence more in line with the misbehaviour than the actual monetary amount of damages. The main idea is to teach them to never do it again. You might take some of it as a financial loss, with an eye for the future.
We hope you’d found this article useful.
