my 8 yr old son won't stop steeling things from our house! help!?

Question

my 8 year old son has recently started steeling things around the house...
it first started with spare change left around the house, but now i found my 16 year old daughter's iPod ruined and hidden in his backpack! he's stolen everything from money from my purse, to my daughter's cell phone... and im not sure how to make him stop!
rather than punish him id rather teach him a lesson to gurantee he won't do it again... im just not sure how to handle this!

if there's any experienced mothers out there that have worked through this problem PLEASE let me know of anything i can do! im going crazy!

thanks so much!!
MUCH APPRECIATED!! ;)

thank you SO MUCH for all your information... but just to clarify the subject... its my 8 YEAR OLD SON taking things from my 16 year old daughter... not the other way around...

although i appreciate the many replies... id rather not do anything that ivolves the police because this problem is only going on at home... thanks!

Answer 1

When he is in school tomorrow go in his room and steel something of his - make sure its something he will freak out over - when he ask have you seen it say - well no maybe someone stole it, next day take something else
after a few days of this sit him down and tell him now you know what its like when people steel from you. don't give his stuff back till you see a change in him. That's what I did when my son tried pulling this crap - it worked.
If this doesn't work see if you can get a cop to talk to him.

Answer 2

Wow - taking an 8 year old for booking at a police station... I can't believe someone would even think of doing that. Obviously it isn't that serious of a problem if they are only doing it AT HOME. Sure you want to curb the issue from extending outside of the home - but to me it sounds like the lil guy needs attention of some sort and his thieving is a way to get that attention to you. My suggestion, find the underlying cause of the thefts - dont use scare tactics for an 8 year old.. a 16 year old on the other hand, might be another story.. but 8 ???? Comeon people - no wonder why today's generation is screwed up in the head.

Answer 3

I had the smae problem with my oldest son last year he was 10 years old.He took as much as a hundred dollars out my purse and then came hom and told me he found it at school. I told I would send away to a boys home or if something got missing again I would take him to the police station my self. I also sat down and had a talk with him and come to find out someone at school was bullying him so I went to school and had a talk with the teacher and the principal.I have to younger boys and I dont want them to think that stilling is okay. I would hate to do it but if he did continue to still I honestly think that I would send him off to teach him a lesson.

Answer 4

I took my daughter to the police station after school one day and explained the situation to the staff..." I am bringing my daughter in because she is stealing and being a big problem at home. I have done the best I can so I am turning her over to you as the next step"
They were VERY helpful being firm and enough of an authority to scare some sense into her. They said in front of my daughter to bring her back if the situation continues so they can do what they have to do if things do not improve.

Answer 5

I once had a daughter about that same age start stealing. I called the local police station and spoke to a Sargent. I explained to him what was going on and told him I wanted to do something to stop her. He told me to bring her down to the station, so I did. He came out of his office wearing a gun and everything. He looked at my daughter and said "I hear you have been having a problem keeping your hands off of things that don't belong to you."

He then took her in the booking room, fingerprinted her, took a mug shot and put her in an empty cell. He left her there for about 45 minutes and she cried her eyes out. He let her out then and told her that now that they had her fingerprints, if she touched anything that did not belong to her again, they could trace it right back to her and she would be in jail a lot longer next time.

I never had another problem with her taking things again.

Answer 6

Well, I have a 10 year old who started stealing in the second grade. We haven't broken him of it yet but it's gotten better. We have punished him by spanking, taking away his things, grounding him, we had an officer talk to him, (not lock him up. I would not do that) We have had him in counseling and the latest thing I told him was we will no longer buy him anything that is not a necessity. I told him no shopping, no more movie theaters, no more restaurants because he did not respect us enough not to steal from us. I told him I have no reason to give him anything extra if he is going to keep stealing from us. So, when we go out he has to stay with Grandma and miss out.

Answer 7

i understand you have tried chatting with him via attempt returned. permit him understand that graffiti rather IS a criminal offense and that he can get into worry with the regulation for it in a protracted time in existence. permit him understand that no longer purely will he be critically punished even though it damages the valuables of others and reasons matters with appreciate and money. attempt doing away with something important to him and not letting him have it returned till he cleans up his mess. Or, make him sparkling it up and don't provide returned what you took in any respect. no longer purely that, yet make him pay for the cleansing aspects out of pocket. even nonetheless he's barely 8 and does not have a job, take it from is allowance or make abode artwork for the money to get the climate and them stress him to sparkling up the wall. And corporal punishment consistently works wonders, too.

Answer 8

my hubby works for a police station here in Utah and they often have young teen visitors visit the jail. I would suggest calling your local pd and asking if they would allow your son to do a walk threw to see the facility. The cops their are very cool, and would love to scare a youngster away from that life if at all possible. i have seen it done many times.

Answer 9

Start taking things of his and putting them up. Take things that are noticeable of his and mean a lot. Put them up and when he finally confronts the issue is the time to confront the issue with him. Tell him that he didn't like his things being stolen and needs to realize what it feels like to be stolen from.

Answer 10

I wonder if he's just trying to get attention.... but maybe you can get his attention and help him stop.

Maybe you can take something he holds dear and hide it. He can see how it feels to have something disappear on him, and he won't like it. He'll know how his sister felt when he took something of hers.

Or maybe you can catch him the act. Even better, catch him in front of his friends. Kids HATE to be embarrassed in front of their friends.

I know you don't want to hurt him, and maybe he has an underlying problem your pediatrician can help sort out. It does need to stop. Good luck!