Teenagers stealing food

sabretoothtigger

jamespir wrote: »

no its not its just a question

tone is often missed on forums true.


sounds normal to me, kids nick the snacks. Buy some really cheap crips from aldis, 8p a packet and leave those out. Hide the expensive stuff somewhere behind some boring kitchen stuff

*max*

Raksha wrote: »

not being able to trust people you live with is a nasty feeling, how stealing from your own family can be the tip of the iceberg and lead to stealing from those not known to you.

Oh my god, call the Police!!!

Talk about dramatic...They're not criminals! Teenagers taking a few nuts or dried fruit from the family home's cupboard is hardly going to lead them onto a life of lies and crime! There's a definite "Scrooge" feeling in this whole story. How sad.

ViolaLass

Have you tried going down the route of 'obey the house rules or else X [insert reasonable punishment]' rather than 'what you're doing is stealing' and then following through?

If I had taken something my parents had told me not to from the fridge and they called it stealing, I must be honest, it would feel like they were being OTT. I would figure that since they planned to put it in something that I was going to end up eating anyway, then it wasn't really stealing. I'm also inclined to agree with the poster above me - this behaviour doesn't have to lead to stealing from other people and saying it may stop them listening to you or taking you seriously.

Either way, whatever you're saying to them clearly isn't having the desired effect - have you laid out consequences (other than internet removal) and followed through on them?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

There are much bigger issues going on here, Raksha. You know this, as you discussed some of them in earlier posts https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/34830051#Comment_34830051

So, to those who say the boy must be hungry, he's hurting himself by doing it. So it is normal to want it to stop.

The simplest would be to not buy the stuff, and padlock up the rest. Not nice, but if it stops him dying young, it seems a reasonable course of action. Stealing food is the same as stealing money, as these things cost money to buy.

but I would be wary of the OH looking for reasons to punish them rather than prevent the problem.

~daisy~_2

where treats are concerned in my house - i expect ppl ( son daughter hub ) to say im just having x y or z or is it ok to have x y z or is it for something special ?? to me thats just respect

i store our treats in the garage on a series of shelves which is ''my shop'' - my 13 yr old son has a habit of stuffing his pockets with cereal bars choc crisps etc when taking his bike out - he doesnt ask and he denies his taken it - that to me is stealing as he is lying about it
there is no need for him to do this as i leave treats in the kitchen and there is always a full fruit bowl as well as cereals toast and a full fridge - its the lying that does my head in

i offer my sympathy and feel your pain xxx

GlasweJen

You've got him on slimfast and yet you say he isn't hungry? I'd be eating everything in sight if I was getting forced to live on 2 milkshakes and a bit of dinner (oh and my 2 snacks of less than 100 cals).

BitterAndTwisted

It sounds to me like compulsive comfort-eating after reading that linked thread. Threats and recrimination won't work as that's not getting to the real problem at hand. He needs help and locking the kitchen cupboards are not the answer.

Guinea_2

Is this not normal behaviour? It's not like they're doing drugs or anything is it?

Raksha

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

There are much bigger issues going on here, Raksha. You know this, as you discussed some of them in earlier posts https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/34830051#Comment_34830051

So, to those who say the boy must be hungry, he's hurting himself by doing it. So it is normal to want it to stop.

The simplest would be to not buy the stuff, and padlock up the rest. Not nice, but if it stops him dying young, it seems a reasonable course of action. Stealing food is the same as stealing money, as these things cost money to buy.

but I would be wary of the OH looking for reasons to punish them rather than prevent the problem.

The son who is stealing is NOT the one with the weight issues, the rest is padlocked generally (unless his Dad forgets to lock the padlock when he's finished and then comes down from his sleep after a night shift to find #2 son stuffing his pockets/school bag having already phoned me to tell me he's going straight round to a friends house after school)

ViolaLass

If it's not the son with a weight issue, then I stick with my suggestion that it's a discipline issue. I wasn't the best behaved kid but if my mother warned me off certain items, I just didn't touch them. It wasn't worth it.