Kids & Shoplifting: What It Means and What Parents Can Do About It

By Carol E. Vaughn

As Britney, 14, saunters past the plentiful aisles of makeup at a suburban department store, the temptation of the newest shade of glimmering gold eye shadow proves to be too much.

The practiced teen has stolen before – two dozen times, to be precise. A flick of the wrist and into her purse the compact goes. Joining her mother, Britney proceeds through the checkout line and out the door. But just minutes later, the teen and her mother are discreetly escorted to the store security office.

An hour later, Britney’s mother has signed an agreement to avoid prosecution in exchange for a hefty civil fine as the teen turns over the cosmetic. She has also been given the option of enrolling her daughter in a shoplifting education program.

Getting the Goods

Young movie star Winona Ryder was  convicted of shoplifting. But most shoplifters are not high-profile athletes or celebrities. There are about 23 million shoplifters in our nation today – about one in 11 people, according to Shoplifters Alternative, a national nonprofit research and rehabilitation program. Although only one-quarter of shoplifters are teen-agers, 55 percent of adult shoplifters say that they began to steal when they were younger, according to Shoplifters Alternative.

In 2001, shoplifting cost American retailers about $10 billion, according to the National Retail Security Survey reported by researchers at the University of Florida. The result for consumers is higher prices, as retailers try to recover and plan for such losses. Add a weak economy to the mix, and experts expect shoplifting to intensify.