Does your child steal? Does your child lie? What to do if your child steals? How you can stop your child from stealing? Well, I know you must be struggling to find answers to all these questions. Just relax because I got you!
This is a common phenomenon that the kids do during the pre-school age. They just lack the understanding of how stealing can affect others and how it is harmful.
By the end of the article, you will have a fair share of knowledge about why the kids steal and you will also get to know about the ways to deal with stealing problems in children.
Why Do Kids Steal?
As I said above that this is a common phenomenon that the kids do during the pre-school age. They just lack the understanding of how stealing can affect others and it is harmful. This is probably one of the reasons behind the children stealing things or objects.
Some kids steal from shops directly as they are not aware or understand economics. The elementary and pre-schoolers often struggle with lack of control on their impulses.
As a result, the kids will simply put the object in the pocket without considering the consequences. As per the research and studies, peer pressure also forces the kids to steal goods from the store or stealing money from an unattended bag.
There are many cases where the kids steal things as they get attracted to that item so much and they know that they can’t afford it. Some of the kids steal as a way to rebel against authority.
There are evidence that underlying behaviour disorder or the mental health problem also has an significant effects on the condition of stealing. The child who suffers from depression has also been found to steal things and objects.
Some of The Other Reasons Are-
- Poor impulse control
- Kids steal as they think it is cool and will impress their friends.
- When somebody else has one of a kind they also want the same.
- To get back at somebody.
- When the kids want or need something,
- When the kids don’t have enough money and can’t afford it.
- When they are afraid to ask you for the money for a particular object (condoms, a bra),
- When the kids are not able to legally purchase something (beer, cigarettes).
How To Stop A Child From Stealing?
Here are some of the ways to deals with stealing problems in children. Such as-
1. Emphasis Empathy:
This is a very effective and strong way that works great in preventing the kids from stealing. Honesty goes a long way to prevent lying and stealing. Teach your kids the spirit of honesty. Try to provide plenty of praise when you find your kids being honest about their act.
2. Teach your Child to Respect Property:
It is a very important way to teach a child about the sense of responsibility for his belongings. Make sure you create rules and regulations when it comes to things like borrowing items for near and dear ones. They should understand the ownership of it. The kids should know about the policies to return it.
[Read: Ways To Teach Kids About Money]
3. Return Stolen Goods:
When you see or catch your child while stealing things, it is very important to teach or make them aware that they need to return the stolen goods to correct owners of the object. They should also apologize to the victim.
4. Provide Consequences for Stealing:
It makes sense to alert the kids of the consequences of stealing. The kids should have awareness about it. You have to be very serious about it. They should have fear about the rules and regulations you carry on with regards to stealing things.
5. Problem Solve Future Strategies:
This is regarded as one of the best ways to stop the kids from stealing. For this, you need to stop the temptation for a while. Make sure you teach the kids to have better self control skills before they engage themselves with negative activity.
6. Never Accuse Your Child:
Trust your kids. Never accuse your kids until and unless you find your kids red handed stealing. There are many cases where the children are accused of false allegations of stealing things because of a misunderstanding.
7. Keep Your Cool:
Make sure you don’t raise your voice or become angry right away. Make your kid realize about their wrong deed but in a positive way. The kids should not say out of fear that they would not repeat it. It should come from their inner conscience.
8. Do not Tempt Them into Stealing:
When you get to know that the kids have stolen things, make sure you don’t offer the opportunity of tempting them to do it again. They should learn the lesson about the harmful effects of stealing.
9. Stay Attached to Your Kids:
Always try to have healthy communication between you and your child. This will help to build a healthy relationship between you and your child. This will ensure that they will confess about their needs and desires in front of you.
10. Find Out The Root Cause:
Don’t draw a conclusion directly. Before that, you should find the root cause behind the action of kids. This will help to find out the trigger behind the action. If the kid is in the wrong company then make sure that the kids are not in company with those friends anymore.
As a parent, you should be very careful in seeing and knowing the fact that the kids are stealing or not. If yes, then I hope this article has given a good amount of information about the ways how you can stop stealing in kids.
