One of my students took my $130.00 special ordered sunglasses and hid it in one of my student cubbies underneath some other student backpacks.Me and some other students spent 15 minutes searching the room for them and one of my students found them in her cubbie.I know she was not the thief.I suspect who the thief is but I have no proof so I could not punish him.Instead I punished the whole class by having them sit on the wall outside instead of participating in PE which we were supposed to be doing.In addition I did yell at all of them about their behavior being unacceptable.I yelled very loud I will admit.I taught PE to one of the other second grade classes and my class had to watch for half the time.Know I feel horribly guilty for yelling at them when I know only one of them was the wrongdoer.I emailed my principal about the incident in case of parent complaints which I hope do not happen.I have to admit I was furious that one of them would steal my personal property like that and have no remorse.But I am angry at myself for losing my temper.I know I should not have but I was that angry.any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Frazz Chick]

Year before last I had a student go into my purse and steal 50 dollars and I am not someone who has 50 dollars to lose. It was the day before school got out for the summer and I had an idea of who had stolen it and I figured that child wouldnt return to school the following day and I would never know for sure. However, he did come to school and I spoke to my principal before I spoke to the child and told him I was going to ask the child. I did ask the child and he confessed to taking the money and you could tell he felt badly about doing it..in fact he acted like he wanted to hug me when I began to cry( I was very pregnant at the time) and I cried and said don't you know that hurts me.. dont you know when you steal that is hurtful. The saddest part to me is that I asked him where the money was and he said at home on his MOMs dresser and that she knew about it! I called and asked her about it and in her annoyed voice she said yea it's on the dresser..whats the big deal!!!! I about lost it! The long and short of this story is that I never got the money..I couldve pressed charges against the child for theft..but did I mention he was in 2nd grade? So maybe you shouldnt have yelled.. but maybe it clicked with the one who took it that it makes people hurt when they do those things! I know my little person that took my money lives with a mother that is stealing from every place she visits, so it is hard to teach them to do different than what they see at home...but every little chance to show them another way is a little hope..Dont beat yourself up..you can always tell them you are sorry you yelled but you were so shocked and hurt by it..Hope this helps..

[readerleader]

Yes, you lost it, but they need to know that stealing is very serious. I know you feel bad for yelling at the innocent kids, but life is not fair. I'm sure any thoughts of stealing have left their heads! Unfortunately, too many parents are failing at parenting and teachers are left to teach basic right and wrong. I tell my kids right up front that I cannot like someone who steals or lies. There is no excuse for either. To the previous poster - I would have driven to that child's home and demanded my money! You still may not have gotten it, but to not follow through sent the message to that child that it was okay. He got away with it. He will steal again.

[Fizzle]

I think it was totally okay for you to punish the entire class. This at least will put the other kids on lookout for the actions of the guilty party. I bet if they see this child stealing or behaving negatively again, you will be hearing about it! They also see that you have feelings and that you were hurt by the actions of one of them.

How are the parents? Are they supportive? Or do they look at their son through rose colored glasses?

[Frazz Chick]

You are probably right..I was however pregnant and the part of town this child lived in isnt safe for me to travel into alone and the admin didnt want the bad publicity to involve the cops...The sad part is that not only did I get robbed, but now feel responsible for not following through...

[twinsister]

We can't control what happens in the home, but your reaction may have planted a seed in that child that stealing hurts. However, the administration should have stood up for you. That is what is wrong with many of our schools. The administration want the public to think that everything is just wonderful and try to hide problems instead of dealing with them. That mother should have been charged for keeping the money. (She is probably encouraging him to steal.) The principal should have taken some responsibility to help you and the school should have some kind of fund to replace your money.

[rainforest1]

I once had a child in kindergarten who stole. We were fortunate to have a resource officer on campus that day and I called the front office on my cell phone but acted like it was the police station. The office called for the resource office and explained the situation. The officer came to the room and explained what happened to anyone who stole no matter what the age. I will have to say this worked so I still use it if I need to. I also have been very fortunate to have good principals to support the teachers. This helps tremendously.