I found myself at Walmart during the student lunch break and noticed different small groups of students acting as if they were planning on getting a free lunch. My usual response to this is to go stand right next to them and just watch, which generally sends them on their way with no words exchanged.
However, today, when I saw a young man at the back of the store finish eating a container of popcorn chicken and then throw it in the trash, I got revved up.
“Dude, you’re going to pay for that,” I said, and started walking toward him. His two friends ditched him, but he promptly fished the empty container out of the trash can. I told him I would walk him to the checkout to make sure the food was paid for.
I attempted to have a conversation about how his parents would feel about his behavior, how he got to be a high school student without having learned that stealing is wrong and did he consider the consequences of his actions?
He was obviously embarrassed and not very verbal, so I didn’t get the answers I was honestly hoping to get. As a trained behaviorist, it bothers me to see a young person not have a better moral code. How do we alter these behaviors?
I urge anyone who observes this to say something like I did. Maybe this young man will think twice about right and wrong in the future.
Anna Westphal
Dolores
