Educators: Caring approach helps when handling theft cases

PETALING JAYA: Although schools have a standard operating procedure to handle theft cases, a caring attitude helps, say educators.

The headmistress of a Chinese primary school in Kuala Lumpur said “loving kindness” is effective.

She said theft cases in primary schools are quite easy to tackle as they usually involve a ringgit or two, or pencils being stolen.

“If a pupil is caught with another pupil’s pocket money, we will tell him that his classmate could go hungry because he has no money to buy food at recess time.

“This will get the pupil to reflect on what he did, and how it affects others,” she said, stressing that the word “steal” is never used when speaking to pupils, or when notifying parents of the incident.

“Instead, we would tell parents that their child had accidentally taken someone else’s belongings.

“Children sometimes take things out of curiosity, and once they’re questioned, they reveal where and from whom they took the things,” she added.

A senior assistant of a national primary school in Selangor said pupils sometimes misplace an item themselves but would accuse a classmate of taking it.

She said the first step in handling a complaint is to determine whether it is a minor or serious case before highlighting it to the student disciplinary committee.

“Serious cases – for example, taking a teacher’s handphone – would take a longer time to solve as we must be sure of the facts.

“We cannot simply accuse a pupil without sufficient evidence,” she said, adding that the pupil involved would be advised.

“We’ll explain that what they did was inappropriate.

“Children must understand it is wrong so that they won’t repeat it.”

The headmaster of a Tamil primary school in Penang said teachers should not go to the home of a pupil because it could lead to a quarrel and people could get hurt if things get out of hand.

“When a pupil is suspected of theft, the senior assistant in charge of student affairs will investigate the case, before raising the matter with the headmaster.

“If the case is inconclusive, I will decide on whether or not to call the parents to the school.

“Parents won’t be asked to come unless there’s sufficient evidence,” he said.