Stealing is taking another person’s property without permission or payment, and without intending to return it. Most people have stolen something at one time or another be it a pen from the office stationery cabinet, the soap from a hotel room, or not volunteered a bus fare. At the other end of the scale, people facing extreme hardship steal food or other necessities for their family’s survival, because it is the only option they have. People see stealing in different ways. Stealing from a shop or company feels less impactful than stealing from an individual because we assume they have plenty. However, there are always consequences; if no one pays for the shop items, the shopkeeper will soon go out of business. There is also a type of stealing that may not be considered as stealing, such as acquiring someone else’s idea, their music or their story. This is especially true today with internet downloads, but it is still theft. Max knows that stealing is wrong but at first she justifies it to herself, and even acts as if she just forgot to pay for the item. But stealing at whatever level is a crime, and if we get caught there are serious consequences like fines or a prison sentence. Parents can teach their children that stealing is wrong by insisting they return whatever item they have taken and apologise to the owner. This makes the child understand that if they take something that doesn’t belong to them it impacts the other person, and it is wrong. Max is made aware that her only option is to return the item and apologise, when it is pointed out by her friend Billy. She was able to understand the impact of her actions. Children especially are susceptible to being persuaded by their peers to steal, perhaps by being dared to shoplift. This is part of learning how to deal with bullies who are able to manipulate vulnerable people. It is very hard in this case not to do as you’re told, so these types of people are best avoided. They have different values to you. If you are the target of a theft, it can leave you with very negative feelings of anger, loss, sadness and frustration. The only thing to remember is that thieves do not care about how their victims feel so there is no point in thinking that they do. If we find ourselves stealing small items, it’s worth thinking about why we needed to do that and explore the intention behind it. Is it because we feel life is unfair, because we are feeling sad, bored or frustrated? Whatever the motive, there is never a good reason to steal anything from anyone.
