Stealing in the Classroom
Every year it seems we always have a few incidences where someone steels something. This year it is a huge issue with one child. I need your advice tips and anything else you can offer. I want to do some whole class lessons around stealing and have some sort of plan to get it o stop. I've talked with the mom and she knows it is an issue. We are working together. Tell me, how do you deal with it in the classroom.
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I think the first thing to figure out is WHY the stealing is occuring. Look at what is being stolen - food, toys, neat pencils etc. Depending on what is being stolen there could be a lot of reasons for the theft - from simply coveting a neat unbrella someone else brought in (happened yesterday) to taking the cool looking pencils or scissors someone else brought in because the child only had the generic ones. One of my sons took some vehicle math manipulatives home in his pocket once simply because he really wanted to keep playing with them and didn't even think about the fact that he was stealing his teacher's toys. It sounds like you have talked to the child about this already and if its continuing then there's an underlying reason - attention, jealousy etc. One thing that I do is keep our cubby area off limits during the day. That way, they can't sneak anything into their backpacks or coat pockets throughout the day.
Hope you get it worked out soon!
Jennifer @ Herding Kats In Kindergarten
One of the things we talk about is the fact that if you want to keep playing with something or you enjoy a manipulative so much that you wan to show someone at home to always ask first and we can make an arrangement. I also talk about not having "lumpy sock or pocket sickness" That is an illness caused by sticking things in our pockets that we want but that are not ours. We talk about how it makes you feel bad inside and feel worse once the teacher and the class find out the items are missing. Then you feel even sad because you don't know how to tell that you took the items because you liked them so much...etc. i have had a lot of success by telling that story and relaying that stealing things may make you feel good for a little while but in the end you feel sick because you hurt so many people.
Ms> W i like the lumpy sock/pocket. I have a few children that have stolen this year, but the one who is my worst offender was in foster care for a while and that can be one of the factors. I like the idea of tailing about how it makes us feel inside. Thanks
We use Ruthie and the Not So Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin as a springboard for this discussion. IN the story, Ruthie finds a camera on the playground and takes it. Then she lies about it and says it's hers. We look at how that makes her friend whose camera it REALLY is feel and how it makes Ruthie feel . . . she can't eat or sleep . . . and what it takes to "fess up" and make things right. This is a GEM! I also work individually with kiddos to get to the WHY because often times they're trying to make up for something that's missing in their lives, and not necessary physical voids but often times emotional ones.
Barbara
The Corner On Character
I work in an area of town where alot of my kiddos have parents in jail. So I explain to my students that when you take something that doesnt' belong to you- that is stealing. (Ah duh... I'm sure we all do that.) But then I explain to them.... when you are a teenager/adult and you steal- you can go to jail b/c it is against the law. So we make a "no stealing law" in my classroom. Then we go over what we should do if a child steals in our classroom. (the child needs to return the item, apologize who it belongs to, and call home about the incident.) Most of my parents are good about returning items that don't belong to them! =) I've only had to talk to them once about it every year and it's worked for me!
p.s. I love the other ideas posted!!! I definitely should add I ask the kiddos "How would you feel if something was taken from you?" =)
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