Beg, Borrow, And Steal For Them To Do Something

(After my locker is broken into twice and my cellphone and other belongings stolen, I stop trusting it and carry my valuables in my backpack throughout the day. Unfortunately this comes back to bite me when someone in gym class decides to stay behind in the locker room, rifle through everyone’s bags, and take at least three cellphones, an iPod, and my MP3 player. After a bad experience reporting my locker break-in, I don’t even bother telling anyone and just suffer my loss in silence. A few days later I find out I wasn’t the only one robbed when I walk into the locker room to find two of the gym teachers talking to a girl who had just had a phone and $20 stolen.)

Teacher #1: “You’re not the only one who’s reported something stolen this semester and we can’t figure out who’s been doing it.”

Teacher #2: “I just wonder how many people have been stolen from so far.”

Me: “Probably a lot more than you realize. The other day I had my MP3 player and a pair of good headphones taken.”

Teacher #2: “You did? Did you report it?”

Me: “No. This is the first time I’ve mentioned it.”

Teacher #1: “You should report it so the security staff will look for it and return it if they find it!”

Girl: “You honestly think they’ll make the slightest amount of effort looking for our stuff?”

Me: “The only reason I had my MP3 player in my bag to begin with was because my locker was broken into earlier this year and my cellphone, two notebooks, and my lunch money were stolen. I reported it and instead of getting at least an ‘Okay, we’ll let you know if we find your phone,’ I had the staff lecture me that I shouldn’t have brought a phone to school and it was apparently my fault that someone broke into my locker to begin with. This is even after I pointed out that school rules state that electronics and phones are allowed as long as they’re kept in one’s locker during the school day, and therefore I had done what I was supposed to. I also told them I needed the phone because I walk home across several busy streets and intersections and might need to call for help if something happens, and they told me to take the bus, which doesn’t even run anywhere near my house. I never got my phone back, they didn’t even change my lock, and my locker was broken into again, probably by the same person, and that time they took my lunch. If I reported that I had my MP3 player in my backpack and not in my locker, they’ll probably tell me they don’t have to do a thing about it because I was breaking school rules by having it on me to begin with.”

Teacher #1: “They seriously did that to you?”

Girl: “Yeah. The only reason I’m telling you guys is because I reported it to the office first like I was supposed to and they told me the same thing.”

(Sadly the person doing it was never caught and I never saw my MP3 player or cellphone again. The gym teachers started running a free service where you could leave your phones and electronics locked in their office with them throughout the day and get them back after school to help combat the theft, which I and many other students were grateful for. Frustratingly, after their unhelpful approach to students having things stolen from them, the security staff practically started a manhunt when a teacher had her phone stolen because she left it on a bathroom sink.)