Okay, so it’s not exactly like that, but this story goes right along with my other commentaries on kids being used in shoplifting or other criminal operations. This time, a 10 year old girl does all the stealing while Grandma is the lookout. That way, if the little girl gets caught, Grandma will say, “Bad child!!” and then to the store loss prevention personnel: “She gets this from her mother”.

Here’s the story:

Police said Vickie Barela used her 10-year-old granddaughter to take items from a Wal-Mart store over the holiday weekend.

Police claim Barela kept lookout while the 10-year-old placed items in empty shopping bags. According to court documents, Barela stood in a checkout line with a few items while the girl tried to exit the store with the alleged stolen merchandise.

I have seen this at least 50 times in my career. It’s not always Grandma. Sometimes it is Grandpa, or Uncle Joe, or Aunt Phyllis. The end is still the same. The adult directs the child in what to steal and how, while they watch for store personnel. When they get caught, because LP approaches the person with the merchandise first, the adult acts totally surprised that the child has been stealing.

In some cases, the adults will even send the kids into a store alone, with a list of what to steal, while they wait in the parking lot in the “get away” car. Exciting stuff for a 10 year old. Just like the movies!

And the kids will take all the blame, too. Why? Well, because they’re told that they won’t be punished because they are kids, and the courts won’t charge them the same as they would an adult, so the kids will say, “Grandma didn’t know about it.” just to protect Grandma.

To me, this is one of the lowest forms of child abuse. These kids are taught from a very early age that stealing is okay, even good. They are also taught that Police and Security officials are bad. And we wonder why today’s kids have this mixed up sense of values and morality?

And get this, even if your kids are not being subjected to this by you or one of your family members, chances are very good that they know a kid who is (89% of kids know a kid who shoplifts). Whether we like it or not, our kids are being influenced by them.

Luckily, in this case, the store loss prevention people recognized this scheme, and Grandma got arrested and charged with Child Abuse and Contributing To The Delinquency Of A Minor.

As a father and a loss prevention professional, I say these people should do the maximum time allowed by the law for corrupting our kids. They should not be allowed to be around kids, let alone be responsible for them.

Note: If you like this post, please pass it along to all your parent friends. Awareness is the key to fighting these kinds of crimes against our kids.

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