I saw a shoplifter today at a gas station. I didn't even notice he was even doing it either. That is, until i heard someone say to go to the register.

They asked him to empty his pockets. I saw nothing in them, and a guy went in the back and found a Junior Mints on the shelf. The kid was scared bad. The guy told his co-worker to call the police. The kid said not to. The men cornered him in a spot and kept yelling at him asking "Were you trying to steal?" He was speechless, with tears in his eyes. They said if he said no, they'll call the police. The kid was sobbing like hell. They asked again, and he finally yelled "Ok! I was!", then they told him to get out of the store and not to come back.

I saw him leave and walk from the store, then he sat at a tree and started crying a lot. I felt bad for the kid.

He was practically traumatized for taking a mint. They cornered him, yelled at him and threatened to call the cops when the kid was empty-handed.

So I was wondering... Was it ok to scare a kid to death of something so little, instead of just explaining what he did was bad? Or was it necessary to make an attempt to give him nightmares?

Not yelling at the kid or frightening him would be a bad thing. I was yelled at, I cried, I decided to lead an honest life. If the clerk had just dismissed my stealing I might have turned out different.

First, how old was the "kid"? If he was a mid teen, you bet, maybe it will prevent him from furthering his life of crime.

Perfectly fine to teach him some morals. At least they didnt pull down his pants and spank 'em.

Kid should've been smarter - best thing he got out of it was how not to steal.

Hopefully he'll learn and abide by the rules - but I'm fairly sure the girl he likes steal 'The London Look' any chance she gets.

Part of life - at least he got an easy go of it.

-m0r

Did he get past the register or leave the store with the goods? If not he didn't shop lift.

Good for the clerk and good for the kid! I was caught with a friend when we were 12 yrs. old stealing reese cups .
Sadly in my case the cops were called and my dad beat the crap out of me, so I had the clerk yelling, the cop interrogating and my dad whipping. I had a reason to cry.

Still love my cups, never stole anything since.

I think they did the right thing. They caught him red-handed. They addressed it immediately and decisively. They made sure he was going to remember the experience, in a negative light. They taught him about repercussions of his actions. AND . . they were kind enough to not call the police, or get authorities involved.

Just think if they would have kindly pulled him to the side, and told him not to worry and the police would come sort it all out, and they gave him a drink of water and joked around, and the police came and said "any" shoplifting is a crime, and he went to juvie for the night, and he made some new juvie friends, and he went to court, and his parents spent a couple of grand to defend him, and the Judge got Child Welfare Services involved, and his brothers and sisters got taken out of class to be questioned, and community service was ordered, and they accidentally found some porn and gun and ATS bookmarks on his dad's computer, and they found a homemade knife in the kids room, and God Forbid his mother stored bleach and Ammonia in the same cabinet, or that Fertilizer and Mower fuel were both in the shed together.

Get it?
Police Involvement = Very Bad, Very Snowbally, Very slippery slope!
Making a lasting impression and teaching about "natural" consequences = Best Option!

What they did to the kid is going to leave an impression on him for good long time. At 10 he is testing boundaries, seeing if he can get away with things and progressively trying more dangerous things. Today a Junior Mints, tomorrow it could be something more valuable and if it gets more rewarding it won't stop. Technically they had no right to say a word to this kid but morally they did the right thing.

The little bastard hopefully learnt his lesson not to steal from anyone.

Let him cry, the little sh*t deserved worse.

Although don't be surprised if the shop worker gets arrested for assault.

[edit on 19-3-2010 by john124]

This is a good thing! My first time stealing as a kid, my mother did something great which I hope she is proud of. She called the police on me, a small charming boy.

She caught sight of me at a distance and yelled at me, I was terrified. I didn't realize it then, but now I understand. At the age of 4, I had just taught myself that I had "stolen". The loot in question didn't contain anything too major, it was just mostly some candy from the local gas station.

To this day I can still remember the emotion I felt when I was 4 years old, as I tried to remain calm, but my mother saw through the guise and knew I was terrified because I had been caught red-handed. Bang bang. The blood was flowing.

She looked out towards the grass lawn behind us and saw that I had dropped the candy a few feet behind me. I was trying to hide the loot, but I had failed.

She walked me to the shop attendant and made me confess my sins. We called the police together, and they met us in our home. It was just two of them, they were nice men. I now know that they were somehow struck in awe as they remember their own son's back home, and how cute it was that I was so scared. Trembling in my clothing.

They lectured me and I was frightened considerably. Then, they the adults, my mother and the two police officers, chit-chatted briefly as if friends. That night, everyone slept in their own bed, comfortably.

I learned a lesson, and everyone is happy to this day.