Welcome to Say No To Shoplifting. Right now, you’re likely asking yourself some of the questions we hear from other kids in your situation.

"What's wrong with me?"
"Why do I hang out with the kids I know will get me into trouble?"
"Will I ever regain my parent’s trust again?"
"How could I have been so foolish?"
"What’s going to happen to me now?"
"Why can’t I say no to my friends when they want me to shoplift?"
"Did I really hurt anybody?"
"Why do I shoplift?"

Let's start with this last question and proceed from there.

Why did you steal?

"I DON'T KNOW," might be your reply.

Maybe it was because you want nice things, or felt pressured by friends, or wanted to see if you could get away with it, or was depressed, or angry, or confused or bored. Maybe you were mad at the world and wanted to strike back.

While you probably know right from wrong, when your life becomes too stressful you may become more vulnerable to temptation, peer pressure and other things which can lead you to shoplift. This may be especially true when you feel unworthy, angry, depressed, not attractive or not accepted. However, you must realize that your shoplifting behavior resulted from a choice that was yours alone to make…and could have been made differently. You made a serious mistake by shoplifting but you can benefit from the experience and go on to a successful future. You first have to face what you did and then learn how to regain your self-respect and the trust of your family. This may not be easy but it can be done if you try to really understand yourself and use this experience to make better decisions about what you will and won’t do in the future. Participating in the Y.E.S. Program is an important part of what you can do to make amends with the store, your parents and most importantly yourself.

If you want to help yourself, ask your parents to visit this website and help you enroll in the Y.E.S. Program. The choice is yours. Taking this positive step to help yourself will be evidence to others of your desire to take responsibility for what you did and ensure that you never shoplift again.

 

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