One of my four did also. Took her right back to the store and made her pay for it. My Mom did the same for me when I was little.
The last thing I’d do is drag my 7 or 17 year old down to the police station to teach her a lesson.
I would have no problem taking a youngster to our police station. Small town, the cops are tough but in situations like this, they would be gentle but direct. I think it was a great life lesson. Far better than her meeting the cops at 17 and looking at serving some time.
jmho
From my experience (having successfully raised 3 into adulthood), each child is very different, so what could be vastly inappropriate for one 7-year old might not be for another.
It seems to me that the parents had tried several times to stop the behavior, and used the “Scared Straight” “Tough Love” template to discourage this behavior/shake some sense into her.
As a young child—probably 7 or 8, my friend and I got the idea that on way home from school, it would be fun to take people’s mail...switch it, ditch it, etc with no regard to the havoc we might be causing...Eh a variation of sorts of ding-dong ditch.
Woah, when my mom got wind of it, I had to go around to every neighbor on my block and confess my crime and apologize—and to the postman too...it worked! Never did that again...Still remember the apology tour very clearly though ;)
Again, each child and family situation is different, but if loving parents who know their child can nip a theft problem in the bud, I applaud their efforts.