Does anyone have advice about effective discipline for a child who has begun stealing? My 6 year old (extremely bright and 2 grades ahead in school) has become very sneaky and has twice (that I know about) stolen something - 1) a pack of gum from a store (which I made him bring back to the store manager and confess what he did) and 2) Money from his cousin's purse (which he used to purchase souveniers from a gift shop on a school field trip. My son has always been very clever, but now he is using this talent for evil instead of good, and my husband and I are EXTREMELY concerned about this new behavior. I have done all the things that I think I should, but he just isn't getting the message - He now has to do chores around the house and for his cousin to pay back the money, he's had to return the items to the gift shop, he has written 100 times "I will not take things that don't belong to me" - I have talked to him about all the consequences of being an untrustworthy person, and it just DOESN'T seem to be sinking in. In every other way he is a joy to have around - he is funny, musically talented, helpful around the house, kind to his friends and his older brother, compassionate, and has so many of the traits that any parent would hope for. How do we nip this problem now and make him understand how wrong this is?
Thank you for any help.
