I want to know what to do about my 7 year old daughter stealing and lying.

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dodgegirl79 , Parent asks:

she steals from everyone in the house if someone got money and she knows about it she steals it and lies about it, she steals food from me when i have said don't eat my lunch for work next thing i know she steals it and eats it, she takes markers from kids at school and food they have books they have, she takes candy her brothers have that they haven't eaten yet because she already ate hers and she wants more, she is very quiet she wont answer why she does these things, what do i do

In Topics: Discipline and behavior challenges

24 days ago

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Expert

Louiseasl

Nov 1, 2009

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What the Expert Says:

Hello and thank you for writing to JustAsk,

Fellow posters have given you very good information. However, I have noticed that you mention that she is stealing food items and money the most. Sometimes, children will have a desire to continuously eat or horde food items due to medical reasons. Therefore, you may wish to consult with your daughter's physician to see if there is a medical basis for her stealing. Also, there are some disorders that can cause stealing behaviors, such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). This is something that may need to be deeply explored by professionals and you might wish to consult with the school psychologist/counselor in her school for more information.

Of course, she may be stealing simply to gain attention. If you have ruled out medical or serious psychological problems then a behavioral system should be set up to deter her from stealing. Such a system can also be set up at home and school (again) via the school psychologist or counselor on staff.

Good luck!

Louise Masin Sattler, NCSP
Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Owner of Signing Families
http://www.SigningFamilies.com

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Additional Answers (2)

ashita21 writes:

you should talk to her about possession and property rights. use a lot of reinforcement when she does follow through with these things... dont lose the smallest chance to reinforce, but make sure u tell her wat u are reinforcing her for. use reinforcers of her interest.

wen she does not follow through use mild punishment and sometimes ignore. punishments like taking away activities she likes. but keep it mild. dont let urself get angry, shouting and yelling could make it worse in some ways.

i hope this helps... take care.

24 days ago

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dgraab , Parent writes:

Hi Dodgegirl79,

I'm sorry to hear about the situation with your daughter. This is actually a common question we get in JustAsk. Here is a sampling of similar questions with answers you may want to review:

http://www.education.com/answers/search/?searchTerms=stealing

In particular, this question ("My child lies and steals, what do I do?") received a lengthy response from JustAsk Expert, Boys Town National Hotline, which may offer some helpful insights for your situation as well: http://www.education.com/question/child-lies-steals/

I'm including below some additional resources to support you with this difficult behavioral challenge. All the best to you in resolving the problem.

Resources:

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_My_Child_Stealing/

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Lowdown_Lying/

http://www.education.com/reference/article/when-children-lie-steal/

23 days ago

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