The affliction of stealing among children needs a remedy
By Ms. Huda Futeiha:
Can you imagine your child stealing? Of course this is a situation no parent wishes to face, yet it is striking that for some children stealing has become a familiar matter, taking other people's things.
The word stealing means taking something without its owner's permission and without any intention of returning it. When a child commits theft, parents are seized by feelings of fear and anxiety that the act will be repeated and will develop into a habit that may cause greater problems in the future.
There are many causes behind a child's engaging in this disgraceful behaviour, as psychiatrists have classified them. Among them is the child lacking any of life's requirements and trying to obtain it by improper conduct through theft, or the child being denied their right to enjoy toys like those they see with their peers. The classification also identifies the child keeping bad company, which encourages their desire to imitate them in stealing from others.
Among the risks that affect a child's behaviour and encourage them to steal is watching dramatic scenes that portray theft, so that the child resorts to carrying it out by way of experiment, or the child may try to show their strength and courage and so resort to stealing, or the child may have a psychological or mental illness that drives them to negative behaviour such as theft.
Fathers and mothers should seek help from those with experience in dealing with children who are found to have stolen, since the child may have emotional problems or psychological illnesses associated with stealing, known as kleptomania, which scientists describe as a state of anxiety before the theft followed by a state of relief when it is carried out.
It is necessary to take the child to a psychiatrist in order to establish the reasons for the child's need to steal and so to draw up a treatment plan, even if there is a clear danger in their current behaviour. The father and mother should deal with the situation with great care and deep thought so as to strengthen the relationship between themselves and their children, so that they can work together to create an atmosphere of love and lasting understanding, while giving the child the necessary explanation that what they did is a wrong act contrary to values, morals and religion.
In the end, the parents' aim should be that the child does not return to such disgraceful behaviour, and as parents they should not forget to reward their child with praise if they give up this act, to encourage them when they behave well and to support them constantly, so as to ensure that love and affection spread among all the members of the household.
