: Stealing and lying I am a concerned Aunt; My nephew has been stealing and lying and I am concerned about that. He is a good kid, he goes to church and school and that's really it but something has gotten into him; he doesn't

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I don't know how old this person is, but this seemed like good info. Link From the link

Tell your children this: “Stealing is wrong for two reasons: It’s
illegal and puts you at risk of being arrested and prosecuted. It’s
also hurtful because when you take something that doesn’t belong to
you, somewhere, someone down the line is being hurt.” Make it real to
your child by explaining that if they shoplift cosmetics or video
games, the company adjusts its price upwards to insulate itself, and
all the rest of us pay a little more for it because of it.

If your child is caught stealing, in all cases, there needs to be
meaningful consequences for the behavior. To you as a parent, the
most important aspect of your child’s decision to steal is the way of
thinking that preceded the stealing. She should pay whatever the
consequences are for stealing, and also write an essay on how she
justified it. Ask her, “What were you thinking before you stole this?”
Remember this: It is in the examination of the justifications and
excuses where the true learning will take place.

Certainly consequences like making her take the stolen item back to
the store, apologizing and making financial amends are all very good
parts of the equation. That kind of accountability can be very
productive in deterring future stealing, if accompanied by an
examination of the faulty thinking which drove them to do it. You also
might give them the consequence of, “You can’t go to the mall for two
weeks. Two weeks of no stealing.” If parents ask me, “How do I know?”
I say “Don’t worry about it. They need to get another chance. You’re
not there to be a cop.” Always give them the chance to earn your trust
back.

“You can’t go to the mall for two weeks. Two weeks of no stealing.”

This was a bit weird. I hope it was a mistake because,

"two weeks of no stealing"

is ridiculous. It is never okay for your child to steal.

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I think that the age would make some difference, since you don't get what money really means until some years old. And even after you know, it's still some temptation since earning money isn't that easy at some ages, specially when your parents don't give you money every week, etc etc.

(I'm assuming it was about money because you said "bigger items and much more money").

Talking with him and mentioning that you know about it will probably block your relation, since if his mother has already talked with him, he'll know that she told everybody about it, and he'll be receiving another talk about it (and nobody gets happier).

You could look for a book about the subject, a movie, a cartoon, anything that says your message. Then give it as a gift. He'll probably be glad at the first moment in receiving it, will read it, and probably will catch the message.