Shaming of Teen Shoplifter? (2024)

Without regard to whether the kid took something or not, there is a lawsuit possible against the publisher for “intentional infliction of emotional harm” on this kid. Look at the lawsuit now being considered against Stanford University for simply notifying a student that they would have to show up before a student disciplinary process to explain an apparent assault on another student. There is no need to go to this extreme in humiliating a child. In fact the store seems the more childish party here.

Really lame. Keep your head up, kid.

Guess the skate shop is sick and tired of little punk-ass thieves robbing them blind.

How did they take the kids ID from him, by force? I hope the Skate Shop has good liability insurance….

Who doesn’t love a good shaming. Don’t steal and you won’t be in this situation. Thanks to the OP for bringing this to light.

whatever…. I don’t see an issue with shaming him. You mess with the bull, you get the horn, that is what my generation was taught. All you people with your hurt feelings stuff. I don’t think we need to avoid hurting peoples feelings, I think we need to teach people/kids how to work through and overcome embarrassment, shame, and anxiety.

Do not blame the store or their methods to cut down on theft. The person who would not have had his picture taken along with their school ID is the thief. Good chance the kid has learned a good lesson and most likely he will be kicked out of his private high school. Of course it could have been done differently, but it is what it is and he’s not going to be stealing from THAT store any time soon. Lost income, lost jobs, and “insurance” does not pay for all of the theft. Look at how many retail stores in San Francisco have closed down due to rampant theft. I believe Walgreen’s alone has shut down over 20 stores citing theft as the reason. Good thing this kid was not caught in Detroit, Chicago, New York, or a host of other wonderful cities where punks get the shizzazzle beat out of ’em for doing what he done did.

BIG NO NO on the company’s part. I was accused of stealing as a minor and they put my face and name in the newspaper. My family sued them and won easily.

Instead of trying to divert attention away from the naughty kid and to blame the business, perhaps the parents should take the opportunity to teach a lesson in making amends, like The Rock did: https://youtu.be/rziK_GSyqc0

“Juvenile delinquent’ is a contradiction in terms. ‘Delinquent’ means ‘failing in duty.’ But duty is an adult virtue—indeed a juvenile becomes an adult when, and only when, he acquires a knowledge of duty and embraces it as dearer than the self-love he was born with. There never was, there cannot be, a ‘juvenile delinquent.’ But for every juvenile criminal there are always one or more adult delinquents—people of mature years who either do not know their duty, or who, knowing it, fail….
These children were often caught; police arrested batches each day. Were they scolded? Yes, often scathingly. Were their noses rubbed in it? Rarely. News organs and officials usually kept their names secret—in many places the law so required for criminals under eighteen.”
~Starship Troopers

I saw the post and as a parent of two, I see no problem with it. Again, as a parent, and of one who was a handful, my guess is that kid doesn’t care either.

Zero
Stores, gas stations etc take video of you all day every day and they own the footage. If you go onto their property and steal, they can put the footage out into the public. If you don’t like it, you can sue, but all they have to do is have a notice posted by the door that noting that by entering, you acknowledge you are being filmed.
The State takes pictures of you at stoplights and anywhere in public right of ways where they have camera and you have no rights to the footage and no recourse

Kid deserves it.

Looks like about a 50-50 spread on this one. Good debate…

Yeah, not god to put his face out there publicly. Talk to the cops, talk to the parents, figure out a way for the kids to make amends and learn from it and become a better person.

What the store owner doesn’t seem to realize is the power of social media to literally ruin lives. This kid (allegedly) did a stupid thing, but 100x more stupid is posting his PHOTO ID on social media. It’s been shared dozens of times and this is a small town. As a parent, I truly hope they are sued and literally lose their business. A 14-year old kid is careless, but adults should not be this stupid.

Not illegal. This debate is about ethics.

Personally I think there should be consequences but leave it up to the police and the parents. Kids are dumb and do dumb things, the business shouldn’t publicly shame them. Is it even legal?
Now if this was an adult, yes by all means but the business might find themselves liable for defamation if there aren’t formal charges.

Yeah, not ok at all. If he hasn’t been charged and convicted, they shouldn’t be posting his photo and name, even if caught red-handed. Not sure they could even if he was convicted if he’s a minor. I’d have some serious words with the owner if they did this to my kid, well…. after I had some words and punishments meted with my kid!

A minor? No, case closed. Deal with the parents/guardian, but do not post publicly unless it is an adult.

Not okay. Feel free to post the name of the business so that we can publicly shame them.

It’s Lighthouse Skate Shop in SB. The parents should contact the store owners and demand they remove it ASAP.

The parents should contact the store owners and demand they remove it ASAP. Lol how about teach your kid not to steal ASAP!! wow smh just sad.

Kid looks high as a kite in the post. It’s still not ok to post his pic and name, public shaming of a minor is not really a great way for a business to behave. Maybe the business owners are trying to garner sympathy and attention but if it was my kid, after I grounded him and had my own consequences, I would be talking via an attorney to those store owners

Obviously not ok, what a lame move. Another example of social media sucking.

Defamation?
No way.
Definition:
the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.
The kid was caught stealing. How can his good reputation be defamed by saying he was caught stealing, if he did in fact steal?
Kids need to be taught they are born with good reputation, good reputation is put into play by stealing, and when caught stealing, often the consequences can spin out of control. Parents of the friends of this young man should counsel their children about this event. Let’s say the store owner tries to grab the stolen item, gets pushed by the thief, falls, hits his head goes into a coma and your kid gives the thief a ride home. Accessory. Or if your child is the thief, a push over $50 theft turns into assault with great bodily injury. A 14-15 year old can rebuild their reputation quickly by learning the lesson, taking the consequence, understanding that they took the risk of an unjust consequence upon themself by putting themself into play. IE: Do stupid crap, win crappy prizes

As a small business owner I get what they were trying to do. Get the word out don’t steal from us.we basically catch 1/2 of out thiefs. We call the police. This is a huge problem not only teens but adults. Most are not remorseful just pissed they get caught. This boy has learned his lesson and hopefully stops others from ripping off that store.

Online shaming may be the only way with this generation. Do the crime, expect face time.

Kid just learned a life lesson the easy way. When you initiate a bad behavior like theft, you do not control the outcome. Mommy and Daddy enabling this behavior will make it worse

What kind of society tolerates the publishing of a minor’s photo and identification for an alleged shoplifting and keeps confidential the photo and identity of the adult who allegedly drove his Lamborghini 152 mph on Highway 154? Just askin’ about our priorities here……

I don’t have a problem with the shaming. Do the deed and you suffer the consequences. I’ll bet the police wouldn’t even show up if the store owner called them.

Lighthouse Skate Shop co-owner Spencer James Navarro was convicted of speeding in 2019, according to public court records. Speeding behind the wheel of a deadly weapon is irresponsible, illegal, and a danger to life and property. That is ALSO public information. Weird.

This is such an interesting thread to read. Social media has created a whole different playing field which I do not yet understand. And it can be so ugly. But reading this carried me back decades…..because many of the comments reflect ‘back in the day’ value systems. We think we are so evolved. I bet most of the commentators are over 60. that is the vibe I am getting. For me, it is refreshing. It’s apolitical. No accusations of ‘woke’/unwoke’ (whatever all that means).

Maybe they should shame the parents instead for not teaching their children to be better citizens like don’t take things that don’t belong to you. It’s a crime. Maybe this will prevent this kid from becoming a career criminal. The kid needs to know there are consequences to his behavior. Community service of some kind. IMO a lot of parents are not being parents these days because they are either to busy or instead they are trying to be friends with their kids so there is no parental guidance.

Looks like they deleted the post. Good. Unfortunately, a little too late. I truly hope they learned a valuable lesson here. Posting photos and names of minors who are suspected of attempted shoplifting (they said he tried, not that he did) on the internet is not only unethical, it’s bad business.

I wonder if the OP, with a link to this boy’s school ID and a sad photo of him sitting on ground, has done more harm than the store owners? How many people outside of the skating community would have EVER looked at their Facebook account ? Edhat never should have published this.

This story and Ehatter reactions about this kid trying to rip off the skate store r-e-m-i-n-d-s me of when John “The Palm” Palminteri shoved that kid out of the camera shot. Some thought The Palm was abusive, where others (like me) thought the kid should not have tried to get into John P’s face. The kid and his parents were very/very apologetic for the whole matter. Bottom line is that the “camera jumper” realized that he did something wrong and learned a good lesson. I will assume that the thief from the skate store will forever be reminded by his classmates about his brush with infamy. The store on the other hand won a victory of sorts from the general public for not putting up with the nonsense that other businesses decided to put up with. Unfortunately, the shoplifter is going to pay a hefty price for some years to come, and hopefully will turn his life around and refrain from his “five-finger discount” practices.

They took the post down.

In our woke state thefts under the $950 threshold in value are barely meted out a slap on the wrist, even for “adults”, and as was noted the 152-mile-an-hour Lamborghini driver on the 154 was not arrested, his car was NOT impounded…. he drove away with impunity. Seriously, do you fault a shop owner for wanting some vigilante justice?

Seabird – do you drive a “deadly weapon” too? Not that vigilante actions are right, but when our goverment “leaders” send an unmistakeable message that theft is OK in our society, and back that up with directives to law enforcement, just what do you think is going to happen? We just had an election and we really blew it didn’t we? Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?