Funny Things to Steal From Teachers Desk

Bumble Groupie

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Feb 1, 2009

I have two classes that go out of their way to steal anything they can get their hands on when my back is turned. I've decided as a consequence they are not going on any field trips and will not doing any experiments for the rest of the year. If we have to do an experiment, then I will perform it. They steal batteries, pencils, pens, or anything on my desk. I'm just tired of rebuying things with my own money because of these two classes. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with students who take things that don't belong to them?
cmw Groupie

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Feb 1, 2009

I'll be interested to see what others say. In my school the theft is getting worse. Our p says it is b-c of the economy so we just have to deal with it. Teachers have had stolen mp3 player, camera (out of a purse), laser pen, candy, supplies (off a desk), book fair items, nintendo ds off a teacher's desk. Students have everything stolen (money, supplies, cell phone, etc...). We have 1 student who steals all the time so now his team has him using plastic bags. It is really sad b-c it is not OK. We need to show them what is appropriate in society b-c some of their parents think stealing is OK.
Bumble Groupie

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Feb 1, 2009

I was thinking about this today and I am going to say this to them tomorrow:
"I had 12 pens and 2 batteries stolen from me on Thursday during your class. I am going to give you the opportunity to return the items anonymously by placing them where you took them from or under my door if I'm not in my class. If I do not get these items back, then this class will not go on any science trips. Stealing is not okay. If you absolutely need something that is appropriate, then talk to me privately and we can work something out. Stealing anything from anyone creates who you are, so do you want to be known as a thief? Rule #1 is "respect everyone and everything," and stealing my items is disrespecting me."

Is this appropriate?

I went to the bank and got free pens so it isn't financially detrimental to continuously buy pens. As for the batteries, any experiment that requires batteries will have to be done by me because I refuse to replace them.
lemonhead Aficionado

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Feb 1, 2009

UGH- I think you will hear from some parents who had kiddos who didn't steal. That is a stiff punishment.
This is really sad. I have had minor things stolen but I think it is unrelated to the economy. I also have a few kids that steal pencils from others.

On another note, 2 of my tough boys have NO respect for anyone's property.
Bumble Groupie

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Feb 1, 2009

I'll take the trip part out, but I think there should be a consequence. This is hard since I don't know exactly who did it.
czacza Multitudinous

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Feb 1, 2009

You can still do experiments: count out materials, have lab partners check their materials back in with you at the end of the period..they don't turn back what they gave you , you know who to hold accountable...
Kids should bring their own writing materials, if they have to borrow one take something in exchange that they will want back- their jacket, baseball hat, shoe...
mmswm Moderator

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Feb 1, 2009

What grades are the problems? You teach k-6, so your approach should be different for each grade. For the purposes of my reply, I'm going to assume it's the older grades.
There's a couple things to keep in mind before you do anything. First thing, is remember who you're teaching. Many of them do not have good role models and solid parenting at home. Even worse, it is very likely that many of them have watched their parents shoplift, and some may even been made to be a part of a shoplifting scheme. Those students who DO have honest parents are very likely to have those same parents absent for much of the time, as those parents are working and out of the house. That leaves them to the less than honest influences of the streets.

Another thing to consider is the attention issue. Many students may be tempted to steal just for the attention...either the negative attention of the adults, or the "coolness" factor from their peers. Remember the code of the streets. They're looking up to the "big guys on the block"; the ones who have all the cool stuff, and those guys frequently get it through dishonest means. If a 5th grader steals batteries, he's saying to his peers, "look, I'm just as cool as the older cool guy...I can steal just like him."

So, now you get saddled with the responsibility of teaching these kids that it's NOT cool to steal. I don't think I'd jump straight to punishment. I think I would contrive some sort of very memorable lesson. When I was faced with a similar problem, I emptied my classroom of EVERYTHING...desks, books, wall decorations, you name it, I took it out and stored it (except my desk and chair, and the stuff I could lock safely INSIDE the desk). They walked into a completely bare classroom, yet still had to do everything I would normally expect of them. I acted like nothing was different until they asked/whined about the missing items. I replied very simply that since my property and that of the school's weren't being respected, the decision was made to remove them from the room. They were a little shocked, to say the least. I realize, of course, that we have very different situations. You're only having this problem with a couple of your classes, where I was having the problem with all of mine, and I have a VERY supportive administration, and if I recall, yours is, um, less so. I would still; however, come up with something equally shocking to drive the point home.

At that point, I would re-visit what the word respect really means. It takes quite a while, with some foward motion and some major back-tracking, before new behavior patterns are internalized, so having to go back to that topic wouldn't be outside the bounds of normal. I would at that point make the "no questions asked" offer for the return of your things, and then set up the punative consequences for any future missing property.
Blue Aficionado

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Feb 2, 2009

The only experience I have had with a student stealing was a child whose was also neglected by his parent. He took a ruler and told me that he needed it for school. (He was in my aftercare.) While it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for stealing, I certainly would make it part of the lesson.
Feb 2, 2009

Granted, I don't have a Full time class yet, but the idea of such a harsh punishment for the entire class, when likely it is only 1-2 culprits doesn't seem fair to me.
Also, if you do have a situation where a student is stealing because he is poor, or his family is struggling, calling attention to it might only exascerbate the situation.

I like the idea of cataloging all of the supplies (you could use masking tape, duct tape, or similar to numerically label all of the items) and have the students sign them in/out when they borrow.
Bumble Groupie

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Feb 2, 2009

Thanks, mmswm, I'm definitely going to try that advice. I tried the "return the items with no strings attached" approach so we'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to take a lot down. It is 4th/5th grade. I get so overwhelmed with such large classes. I need to get into the swing of things.
Don't worry, I'm not taking away the students' field trips. I don't have the heart to do it.

I feel as if I get more support here. Thanks again!
lemonhead Aficionado

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Feb 3, 2009

I totally understand the frustration Bumble. Hopefully you can come up with something that works. Keep us posted.
Mar 3, 2009

If you could narrow it down that might be helpful. For example pull them out one by one and say something to the effect. I heard about all those missing things. I just wanted to see how you felt about them stealing it. You can sort of guide everyone into a confession. I did this and narrowed it down to 4 kids. I proceeded to take them into a conference room (unfamiliar setting) I then had the principal (or you could get another mediator) come in. She took down their statements on paper and made the comment that normally she would report this to the police. Turns out they were all involved.
Special-t Enthusiast

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Mar 3, 2009

Today, a student left his wallet behind. I tucked it in the teacher's desk drawer (I'm a sub) and by the end of the next class it was gone! This was a small class of only about 10 and I can narrow the theft down to 3 students. The thief must have been watching my every move then pounced when my back was turned. The co-teacher filed a formal theft complaint and turned in the class list to security to have the students interviewed.
alphabetagamma New Member

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Sep 13, 2014

Cultivating the snitchesWell I have a class with 5-6 9th grade thieves, taggers, rude noise makers, and vandalizers in it, and the school has a strong culture of kids not snitching on each other. This is a title 1 school. Threatening to withhold privileges did not work; punishing the whole class did not work. Then I tried accusing a few students, and of course they didn't like that. If a kid did something once, or it happened near them, I would accuse them of it and the next time something like that happened. So that made them a bit more likely to snitch if I asked "Who did that?" because they didn't want to be accused.
After about four weeks and asking "Who did that?" almost in a humorous way, mostly students said they didn't know who did it but denied doing it, and finally one kid saw it and snitched. Yay! As a result, I caught a kid with stolen equipment in his pocket (stolen from my desk area), which to his merit, he returned to me after I asked him to. I am trying to decide whether to report him to the dean. I am inclined to do so, as on a previous day, someone knocked over 1.5 reams of paper in my desk area, and on that day someone also dumped a lot of water on the floor, so he could be THE vandalizer.

Low SES kids have been known to cause all kinds of trouble in labs, eventually resulting in no labs. I know one new teacher who lost his job because the little monsters were throwing batteries at each other. The trick is not to allow the brats out of their desks, and to make them do experiments at their desks. Letting them near the sinks is not working. Also, they tag on the lab benches. The experiments need to be of low-cost items and of unbreakable quality. If they act like criminal toddlers, they need to be treated like criminal toddlers.

Also, experienced teachers said you have to get the troublemakers out of your class as soon as possible. So now that I have narrowed it down to 5-6 kids, I will start making them leave the classroom for time-outs, etc, along the lines of other teachers at this school.

This is a work in process...
HistoryVA Devotee

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Sep 13, 2014

I had $20 stolen from my desk last year while I was letting 4 kids stay after school to make up work. I was in the process of fundraising and had sat one of the candy bags with the money on my desk. When I looked about 15 minutes later, the bag was gone. I am 99% sure which student took it, but since I had no proof, I spoke to each of the 4 students individually the next day. I told them that unless it was returned by the end of that day, none of them would be allowed to be in my room outside of class time again. No make up work after school, no Saturday reviews, no stopping by during lunch to take a quiz, nothing. It wasn't returned and I stuck by it. If they didn't do their work in class, they were out of luck. One of them missed a test once and I allowed him to make it up after school, but in another teacher's room. It was hard because I knew, I just KNEW which kid took it, but I had to treat them all the same.
I was really upset by it though. It was the first time I'd felt betrayed by my kids.

My pens/pencils are taken every day, but that's a battle I decided not to fight a long time ago. I don't even keep track of who grabs a pencil each day.
sjanew15 Rookie

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Oct 3, 2014

I have a similar problem. This week, the kids started stealing each other's class journals and now some of them are refusing to get new ones. They say, "teacher, we don't have the money."
I stash extra journals in a closet, so I took those out for the kids, but they got stolen too. I no longer provide these things for the kids because they will get stolen.

I want to think of a punishment for the class, but I don't know what is appropriate.

By the way, this is a school in a high crime area with very high poverty. What kind of punishment should I do? I have an inkling who took it, but I have to treat them all the same. I'm thinking of maybe sitting them down on Monday, explaining my new participation system, and then letting them have a day or two to return it. If not, should I tell the kids they will lose the ability to have the computer cart in class or some other thing that they like? I'm really tempted to let the dean know so that the ninth graders won't be allowed out for lunch anymore. They are the worst bunch this school has had in a while.
Greent Rookie

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Oct 30, 2014

We had a child who picked up little knick nacks throughout the classroom almost every lesson. His mother would find pencils stencils and toy cars in his backpack, we tried checking his pockets and backpack at the end of the day but quickly realized that was not going to change his behavior. We gave him the job of checking the classroom to make sure everything was put in its place, pencils were all back, and books put away, this seemed to help, because he got to touch everything this way he didnt pick pocket constantly after this. Parent support is also key. We'd see the action and then give the chance for him to do his classroom checking before intervening.