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Published: Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012 / Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012 01:00 PM

Shoplifting is stealing, no matter how small

I have never paid to much attention to shoplifting – until the other day.

I was purchasing something from one of the vendors in the mall and right next to us there was a shoplifting bust. It took three security guards, two police officers and store security to apprehend a woman with a purse the size of a carry-on piece of luggage. After much screaming and yelling, she finally opened that gigantic purse and, lo and behold, she had evidently stole one item from each store in the mall.

They cuffed her and took her away as I stood there with my eyes as big as saucers.

When I got home, I decided to do a little research and found that there are 550,000 incidents per day of shoplifting. This results in $13 billion worth of goods being stolen from retailers each year. There are two groups of shoplifters: The first are professional addicts who steal to support their drug habits. They are hardened criminals who steal for resale and profit as a lifestyle. The other group – the majority – steal for a variety of reasons. This group is made up of people who are depressed, frustrated or influenced by their peers or are kleptomaniacs.

Researches say that 47 percent of high school students have shoplifted.

There are consequences. For me, it would have been my family’s wrath and my inability to sit down for the rest of my life. I never wanted to take that chance. Another option is jail, fines and your reputation. In South Carolina, if you are convicted and if the merchandise is worth $1,000 or less, you can be fined $500 and imprisoned for 30 days. If you steal from the mall, you will also be banned from the mall for a year and from the store you stole from for two years.

Teach your children the consequences of shoplifting. It’s not worth it.

On another note: Congratulations to David McDonald on being named South Carolina’s Middle School Principal of the year. A great honor for a great man.