Students learn about shoplifting

Editor's note: The 6th grade students at Meyer Middle School have been working cooperatively with ShopKo and the River Falls Police Department to address the topic of shoplifting.

Students in Bobbie Anderson's reading class participated in the program before Christmas. The following article was written and submitted by Anderson.

The River Falls Police Department, ShopKo Corporation, and Meyer Middle School 6th-graders are all joining forces to take a hard look at shoplifting and the many consequences of that crime. It is hoped that this cooperative effort will go a long way toward deterring adolescent shoplifting in our community.

For the 6th-graders, the experience begins in their reading class when they read a book, "Cages," by Peg Kehret.

The book is about a 14-year-old girl who impulsively steals a piece of jewelry from a department store and gets caught. As she shares her experiences, students find out that there are many different costs to the person who shoplifts.

Besides the obvious costs of a fine and restitution, the main character also finds that she pays for her crime in loss of self-respect, strained relations with parents and peers, a damaged reputation, and the loss of free time which has to be spent doing community service.

After completing the book in early December, the students in Bobbie Anderson's 6 Gold reading class had the opportunity to experience the crime firsthand.

Two volunteers, Mike Dusek and Jack Hajewski, were chosen to carry out a simulated shoplifting at ShopKo in River Falls.

The head of ShopKo's security, Chris Roberts, police officer Jon Aubart and the parents of both of the boys, all agreed to play out the scenario as realistically as possible. On the appointed day, Mike and Jack were transported out to ShopKo and given the direction to attempt to shoplift something.

Both boys were apprehended just as they left the store by Roberts, and his assistant had the entire incident recorded on video tape with store security cameras.

While being held in the security office, the boys were questioned, searched and paperwork was filled out. When an officer arrived, they were handcuffed and transported to the police station.

There, Aubart questioned them, called their parents, fingerprinted them, took their "mug shots" and issued each of them a $62 ticket.

The following day at school, all of the participants gathered and shared their experiences with the rest of the class.

Roberts explained ShopKo's security system and talked about the costs of protecting the store and passing those costs on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

Aubart talked about the legal consequences for the shoplifter. In addition to a ticket, an offender may also have to do hours of community service or even spend time in a juvenile detention facility if this is a repeated offense.

The two parents who participated, Jeff Dusek and Vicki Hajewski, reminded the class of other costs to the family of a shoplifter. They talked about reputation and family honor, as well as trust and never being able to undo what was done.

Finally, the two boys got the chance to share their feelings. Both spoke of being nervous and feeling guilty, even though everyone knew it was a simulation.

Mike was somewhat frightened when the police officer who transported them reprimanded him for laughing about such a serious matter, and Jack was very self-conscious about being seen by a member of his soccer team while being put into a police car in handcuffs.

The rest of the students in class had a chance to ask questions of the participants, and their overall feeling at the end of the session was that they felt almost as if they had gone through it themselves.

Throughout the year, as other 6th grade classes tackle the topic of shoplifting, ShopKo has pledged their continued involvement to carry out more simulations or come into classes as resource speakers.

Aubart, who is the police department's liaison with the school district, will also continue to speak to the 6th grade classes about the legal consequences.

It is hoped that this combined community effort will help kids realize that shoplifting is a crime that costs - it doesn't pay.