Children’s “Mini Theft” and How to Manage It

Article in brief:  Many parents are blaming themselves for their children’s inappropriate behavior even though most of them can be fixed with a little bit of care and attention. Here a light will be shed on the main causes and effects of stealing, one of the most familiar disproportionate acts going on among children.

Raising children is one of the toughest jobs that a lot of people face, for they are not only helping their children develop certain behaviors, but are establishing some principles that will guide them throughout their lives. Being a parent is not an easy task, it is a permanent job with great results in the long run. Even though parents try their best to do their job to the fullest, sometimes their children get used to some behaviors that might seem to disappoint their parents and make them look like they are not trying hard enough.

Some children tend to enjoy exploring and trying new things on their own way. Although such curiosity has many advantages as it is a sign of the intellectual growth of the children, and an assurance of the improvement in the level of perception that they have about what is going on around them. Sometimes, this curiosity leads them to try things that are not always the right things to do, just to know the outcome of the behavior such as lying, swearing, and stealing.

Children who steal from ages 4-10 do so for many different reasons. To start with, some of them are in the stage of their life where they cannot differentiate between what is theirs and what isn’t. Others do it as a symbolic compensation for the lack of parental love, attention, and respect. Sometimes, the motive of this robbery is the parent’s exaggeration in protecting things, whether they are expensive or cheap. So the kid becomes driven by curiosity and desire to explore and know the reason behind such protection.

There are certainly more reasons but those are the most common ones in my opinion. If no one takes action on such behavior, it might become the child’s future, and affect their personality for a long time. If a child gets used to such a bad behavior developed on his own or through the environment that raises him, people may start avoiding him; he will become less productive, and start to believe: “Why should I work hard to get something when I could just steal it?” Eventually, he will start losing his trust towards people, including himself; he will lose his self-confidence, and might start getting involved in larger crimes like bank robberies.

Taking actions and trying to help the child overcome such behavior must come as a priority before it’s too late. If you find out that your child stole something, or participated in an inappropriate behavior, take them aside, and make it clear that you will not tolerate such behavior and that stealing is wrong and unacceptable. Talk to them kindly, and try to find out the reasons behind their behavior. Give him more attention and love. Make sure you don’t embarrass him in front of others because that would make him do it again and again to defy what you’ve said and challenge your authority.

Raise your children with love and give them the freedom to talk to you about whatever it is that they are doing, without being afraid of your reaction. Remember you are not only teaching them the right and wrong, but you are also guiding them to live their lives in the right way.