What action would you have taken in this shoplifting case?

What were the laws before they were rewritten?
I read that the juveniles usually weren’t granted a lawyer and that there wasn’t really any point because juvy was intended to help, not imprison the juvenile. Does this apply at the location you were in during this time?

I think it’s rather obvious that the girl was either A: stealing FOR the mother, or B: wanting to steal something her mother wanted.

They BOTH needed intervention, but, seems to me the mother was grooming her daughter to be a shoplifter, which, IMO, IS abuse.

No, I don;t think the girl needed a ” whipping”, I think she needed counseling and new mother.

I agree with @Coloma. Whipping doesn’t solve anything.

I think you did the right thing. I personally do not smack, whip or hit my child but if she stole something right in front of me and got caught. I’d smack her ass red. I know that is not the favorable answer but look at how many problems have a-rised since the youth stopped having repercussions for their actions.

I think the girl stole it for the mother (did the size fit the mom?) and the mom was pissed her daughter did not do it well. You said she threw her skirt over head, sounds pretty obvious to me. The mom knows the girl will just suffer a juvenile arrest, so she put her kid up to it.

The mom should have been taken to jail for whipping her kid and the girl should be taken for stealing, and the girl should have been interviewed by social services. The thing is, back then, even now in TN (is that where you were back then?) probably no one would blink that the girl got the belt.

I’m going against the grain here and saying maybe the police should have been contacted. If the good people here on Fluther are wise enough to deduce that this girl more than likely stole the girdle on her mother’s behalf, the city’s finest are certainly capable of the same reasoning. Taking this into consideration, the authorities would probably have given this girl the scare of her life and stopped her shoplifting career in its path. As it stood she got a nice beating at the store for the sake of show, and probably one at home for being a poor shoplifter.

P.S. I might very well have taken the belt, headed into the other room, smacked something with it other then my child, and instructed the kid to scream like there’s no tomorrow.

@SuperMouse I said to arrest her also.

I’d be willing to bet my house that the mother likely told her daughter to steal. I’d also be willing to bet that they’ve done this before. It makes sense since the juvenile will receive a lesser (or lack of) punishment if caught stealing than the mother would.

I know you tried to do the right thing (I’m not smashing you here) but I would have called the police or child protection services because there is a good chance that this mother will destroy her daughter’s life.

I used to teach in TN and had paddles with holes (I broke them too)

Back in the day, we disciplined better. Parents were involved.

Much better than a police record.

@jazmina88 If the mother put the girl up to it what does disciplining have to do with it? If the girl was given a whipping because she was caught stealing when the mother put her up to it, then she was hit for being caught, not for stealing. If an adult, either security or social services, had talked to the girl maybe we could have learned the truth. Either she did it for the mom, or was stealing for attention, whatever the case might be. If she was just doing it because she is young and just seeing what she can get away with community service sounds better to me than hitting her.

@SuperMouse I agree, if the mom was able to make it seem like she was hitting the girl and wasn’t, most mom’s might do that to get out of the situation whether the daughter stole it for herself or for the mother.

@jazmina88 in this case the parent was involved and was more then likely the one who put the girl up to the theft. Aside from that, I do not now and never will buy that the best way to discipline a child is to hit them with a paddle with holes in to the point the paddle breaks. Not hitting my children does not make me an uninvolved parent.

I don’t think it is appropriate for an officer or a security guard to decide how a child should be disciplined by its parents, nor do I find it appropriate for an officer or security guard to bribe the parent into following his idea of what the fitting punishment would be by hanging legal repercussions over their head. “Whip your child or I’ll arrest her” is no different from “have sex with me or I’ll fire you.” It’s an abuse of power. Either do what you are legally empowered to do, or leave it alone.

I believe it would’ve been better to take the girl. If she had stolen before, most likely on her mother’s behalf, I’m sure she had been whipped before. Jail would’ve been a new type of punishment for her and you would’ve been able to check on the mother for her obvious child abuse.

If they were in another room, how do you know the mother really whipped the daughter? How do you know the mother didn’t just tell the daughter to scream a lot and make it sound like she was being beaten?