I had always been warned about stealing at the high school, but I never really thought it would affect me. That was, until my water bottle disappeared in October. I left it in the classroom and remembered an hour later to go grab it. When I got back to class, it was gone. After the classroom, I checked the lost and found, but after not finding it, I concluded that it was stolen.
When I started talking to my friends about it, I was surprised to hear that they also shared my anger about their own stolen items.
Elizabeth Wright (10) lost her airpods in a classroom. She tracked them on the Find My iPhone app and saw that someone had taken them.
“I was really sad. I was crying,” Wright said. “They were expensive and I knew my parents would be mad.”
That night at 10 p.m., Wright went to the house her phone showed her airpods were at and spoke to the parents of the student.
“I asked them if they had a student at the high school that could have taken them and they said they did. They went to go talk to them for like 10 minutes and then they came back out with my airpods.”
Other students like Sophie Bellon (10) and Maggie Walters (10) weren’t as lucky as Wright with getting their stolen items back. Walters was upset after her Uggs were stolen from the girls varsity locker room.
“I wore them like everyday. I’ve also heard people get their money stolen and stuff in that locker room,” Walters said.
Bellon is also annoyed with the disappearance of her water bottle.
“I think people take things because they think that the person who lost it doesn’t care about it or isn’t looking for it,” Bellon said. “But it’s also annoying because now the person who lost it can’t find it.”
I began to wonder what ways people could get their stolen stuff back and how these incidents could be prevented, so I interviewed Associate Principal Jeff Lampi about how the school helps students with this issue. He recommends that as soon as you suspect your item has been stolen, go to the office and make an incident report to admin.
“We have the resources like cameras that help us investigate and make next steps,” Lampi said. “Overall, a good practice, especially in the locker room, is to always lock up your belongings, and don’t leave items unattended while in class or other spaces. Our Athletic Director, Ms. Norris can provide any student with a lock.”
In the end, we’re human and losing things is inevitable. But if you think you’ve had something stolen, not all hope is lost. You can always make an incident report to administration and they can help you from there to get your item back to you.
