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18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend’s House, Parents Worry About Teen’s Future

18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend’s House, Parents Worry About Teen’s Future

Interview With Expert 18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend's House, Parents Worry About Teen's Future18YO Steals $6K Of Friend’s Things, Parents Unsure How To Handle It Without Harming Her FutureFolks Are Unsure How To Handle Situation Of Daughter’s Friend Stealing Stuff Worth $6K From ThemCouple Wonders How To Approach Teen's Parents After She Stole Items Worth $6K From Their House18YO Steals Over $6,000 In Goods From Her Friend’s Household, Says She Did It For Her Parents’ DebtTeen Steals Items Worth $6K From Friend’s Home, Friend’s Parents Wonder What To Do18YO Steals Jewelry And Watch Worth Over $6,000 From Friend’s Home, Says It’s To Help Parents’ Debt18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend's House, Parents Worry About Teen's Future18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend's House, Parents Worry About Teen's Future18YO Steals $6K Worth Of Things From Friend's House, Parents Worry About Teen's Future
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It’s needless to say getting your stuff stolen isn’t a pleasant experience – your personal space and belongings were violated. In fact, some people can be so affected by it that it leads them to mental health struggles. What can make this situation even worse is when the crime is committed by someone close to you, someone you trusted enough to let into your personal space that they violated.  

That’s what happened in today’s post. In it, a mother tells a story of how her daughter’s friend stole an expensive watch and was caught by security cameras. After they confronted the girl’s parents, they learned the girl had stolen way more than just a watch.

More info: Reddit

Becoming a victim of theft is bad enough, but it’s even worse when the thief is someone close to you

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The author’s daughter acquired a new friend who used to come over to do college projects at their home

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Image credits: Kaboompics.com / Pexels (not the actual photo)

One day, the author’s husband was helping the girls with one of their projects, and while they were in his office, he took off his expensive watch

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Image credits: Quang Viet Nguyen / Pexels (not the actual photo)

After the friend left, the man noticed that his watch was gone, so they checked the security cameras and saw the daughter’s classmate stealing it

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Image credits: throwra_Level-Exam

Image credits: Stephen Hillenburg / Nickelodeon (not the actual photo)

The daughter opened up that the friend must have stolen some jewelry from her too, so the parents started to think about how they could reach out to the thief’s folks to talk about it

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Image credits: throwra_Level-Exam

When they did, they learned that the girl had stolen even more than that from them and that she wanted to sell it to help her parents with their debt

Nine months or so before the post appeared on Reddit, the OP’s 18-year-old daughter acquired a new friend. The girls were college classmates and sometimes had projects due together, so the author’s daughter would invite the friend over. 

One day, the girls were working on a project that was in an area that the OP’s husband studied in. They went into his office to concentrate, where the man took off his watch and left it on the desk. 

After the project work was done and the daughter’s friend left, the man started to look for his watch. It was gone – it wasn’t where he put it, nor anywhere else. So, they checked the security cameras and saw their teen’s friend stealing it the moment she was alone in the home office. 

When they talked about it with their daughter, she revealed it wasn’t the first time something had disappeared after her friend had visited. Her gold earrings and gold necklace had disappeared, and she thought she had lost them. After the revelation about the stolen watch, she was sure that the friend must have stolen them. 

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While some of you might jump to the conclusion that this friend must be a kleptomaniac, in reality, this mental disorder isn’t as common as one might think – only about 0.3%–0.6% of the general population has it. So, while this girl may have it, it’s quite unlikely. 

But there is a more likely reason. Bored Panda’s interviewee, parenting expert Rachel Bailey, explained that negative behavior, such as theft, is always a sign of an issue: “Either a child has a lot of emotional distress and/or they’re missing the skills to control their impulses, address discomfort, etc. (Many teens address their discomfort by trying to feel more powerful – being mean to others, stealing, etc.)” 

Image credits: gpointstudio / Freepik (not the actual photo)

She also noted that these behaviors should never be excused and said that addressing the reasons is a must: “If we don’t address the cause of the behavior, it’s like weeding a garden by pulling out the tops of the weeds but not the roots. When the roots stay in the ground, the weed pops back up. If we don’t address the cause of behavior, the behavior continues to happen.” 

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The OP and her husband weren’t sure what to do about their daughter’s friend who was acting out. They wondered whether they should tell her parents that she stole things worth a lot of money (around $6,000), as they didn’t want the police involved, they just wanted their stuff back. 

Well, as our interviewee said, addressing underlying problems is important, and it can’t be done by avoiding talking about the incident. The teen needs to face the consequences for her actions: “They may return or pay for what they’ve stolen, and perhaps apologize as well. But addressing the cause of the behavior should be a primary focus.” 

That’s why the original poster and her husband asked people online how they should proceed with talking to the girl’s parents without it becoming an overly dramatic thing. 

People on Reddit suggested plenty of ways they could go about talking with the girl’s parents. Some described it, and others straight-up provided draft messages. 

Image credits: benzoix / Freepik (not the actual photo)

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As the update showed, the OP and her spouse ended up reaching out to the parents of their daughter’s friend. They didn’t get offended, as the author feared, but uncovered that the situation was bigger than it was initially thought – the 18-year-old had been stealing from her friend’s home for months. 

Some of the things she had given to her parents as gifts, others she had tried to sell. Apparently, her family had some debt and this was her way of helping. After she was caught, her parents promised to give back everything to their rightful owners.

So, the original poster and her husband told them that this time they wouldn’t call the police, but they should be wary, as someone else in their place would. And that of course, from that point on, the girl couldn’t come to their house anymore. 

Quite a few people online thought it was a foolish step not to get the police involved, as this way the teen might not have realized the magnitude of her crime. As they explained it, they didn’t want to ruin her life, but maybe being caught would work and she’d nip this behavior in the bud. Plus, maybe her parents would make her face some consequences besides that. 

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Either way, it’s nice that the situation was handled pretty civilly and that the family got back their expensive things. Let’s just hope that the ex-friend realizes the wrongness of her actions and will fix her behavior.

The items were returned and the friendship was cut short, but some netizens felt the parents should have called the police since the value of the stolen goods was high

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Ugnė Bulotaitė

Ugnė Bulotaitė

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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I am a writer at Bored Panda. I have loved creating and writing down stories about people and things since I was little and I think this passion led me to get degrees in sociology, communication, and journalism. These degrees opened various paths for me, and I got a chance to be a volunteer in the human rights field, and also try myself out in social research and journalism areas. Besides writing, my passions include pop culture: music, movies, TV shows; literature, and board games. In fact, I have been dubbed a board games devotee by some people in my life.

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Ugnė Bulotaitė

Ugnė Bulotaitė

Writer, BoredPanda staff

I am a writer at Bored Panda. I have loved creating and writing down stories about people and things since I was little and I think this passion led me to get degrees in sociology, communication, and journalism. These degrees opened various paths for me, and I got a chance to be a volunteer in the human rights field, and also try myself out in social research and journalism areas. Besides writing, my passions include pop culture: music, movies, TV shows; literature, and board games. In fact, I have been dubbed a board games devotee by some people in my life.

Denis Krotovas

Denis Krotovas

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. While studying at Vilnius Tech University, I learned how to use Photoshop and decided to continue mastering it at Bored Panda. I am interested in learning UI/UX design and creating unique designs for apps, games and websites. On my spare time, I enjoy playing video and board games, watching TV shows and movies and reading funny posts on the internet.

Read less »

Denis Krotovas

Denis Krotovas

Author, BoredPanda staff

I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. While studying at Vilnius Tech University, I learned how to use Photoshop and decided to continue mastering it at Bored Panda. I am interested in learning UI/UX design and creating unique designs for apps, games and websites. On my spare time, I enjoy playing video and board games, watching TV shows and movies and reading funny posts on the internet.

What do you think about the decision not to involve the police?
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greenideas
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know. The friend's story about wanting to help pay for her father's debts sounds fishy to say the least. It's like she made up something to get sympathy when she knew she got caught.

StarCrossedFriday
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right, wouldn’t the parents have said ‘she was giving us more money to help out than usual, but we never thought she was stealing to get it’, or something?

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FreeTheUnicorn
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone steals thousands of dollars worth of items from you, you aren't ruining anything. She is committing felonies, and getting caught. She is ruining her life. She's 18, in college, loves at home. There's every chance she will get a relatively light sentence, but just letting her continue, you're setting her up for much bigger trouble, stealing from the wrong person or being older and incurring a much harsher sentence.

Janelle Collard
Community Member
Premium
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sorry - I don't agree. I would've called the cops. She KEPT stealing. Not just *one* thing - LOTS of things.

SuperChicken
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd do the same. Should the friend denies, there are cameras around the house to back-up the accusation.

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greenideas
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know. The friend's story about wanting to help pay for her father's debts sounds fishy to say the least. It's like she made up something to get sympathy when she knew she got caught.

StarCrossedFriday
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right, wouldn’t the parents have said ‘she was giving us more money to help out than usual, but we never thought she was stealing to get it’, or something?

Load More Replies...
FreeTheUnicorn
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone steals thousands of dollars worth of items from you, you aren't ruining anything. She is committing felonies, and getting caught. She is ruining her life. She's 18, in college, loves at home. There's every chance she will get a relatively light sentence, but just letting her continue, you're setting her up for much bigger trouble, stealing from the wrong person or being older and incurring a much harsher sentence.

Janelle Collard
Community Member
Premium
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sorry - I don't agree. I would've called the cops. She KEPT stealing. Not just *one* thing - LOTS of things.

SuperChicken
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd do the same. Should the friend denies, there are cameras around the house to back-up the accusation.

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