Fundraising Skimming

[Antoninus Verus]

I just got off the phone with a good friend. They're having a little morale dilema at home. My friend's little sister is selling cookies to raise money for her soccer team. A family friend called a little while back and said how much she loved the cookies my friend's little sister sold to her for $5. Problem is that on the form that her parents got, it said that the boxes were to be sold for $2.50 each. So for about a month now, my friend's little sister has been applying the fine art of "skimming".

Thier parents are fighting about it because her dad is laughing about it and doesnt really care, hes actually impressed that a 9 year old would be able to think something like that up. Her mother is absolutely through the roof about it, absolutely furious. My friend is kind of siding with his dad.

What do you think about the situation? I personally kind of agree with her dad.

 

[crossrunner]

Skimming is a nice word for stealing. This girl has been dishonest and has stolen from the customers who trusted her. It may not seem like a lot of money but it is still wrong. I would hope her parents would teach her this and make her return the excess money.

 

[Angel4Truth]

I wonder if the father would think it was funny if someone called the organization she was representing and told them about the fraud she was committing since parents ARE responsible for the acts of their minor children .

I wonder if he would be laughing , if they sued him for the possible damage to affiliation?

I wonder if the father would think it was funny to explain to the other children why people no longer donated because of the mistrust bred by people like his daughter ?

I wonder if he will laugh when He stands before God and explains why He didnt teach his child any better than that .

Or if he laughs when someone like her rips him off , or later rips her off , or if he will be wondering whats happened to our children - and forget he helped the problem .

 

[sanaa]

i think its wrong . its cheating . whatever excess money has been collected should be returned or donated to charity . as for the dad , how would he feel if the situation was reversed and he was unknowingly giving extra money for something . he wouldnt like to be ripped off , would he . u have to teach some values to little children . like honesty and hard work. if ur friends sister wanted more money she should have made the effort to sell more boxes .

 

[Antoninus Verus]

They dont get to keep the money they sell and she turned in the $2.50 for all her boxes. She just collected a little extra on the side.

Which technically I guess is wrong, but still, you gotta see the humor in it

And her dad didnt go "Good job! Keep it up!" He just laughed about it and said "Its probably not a good idea to be doing that." Im personally impressed that a 9 year old could think it up and pull it off. Plus I think its incredibly funny.

 

[ralrachaan]

Here's my opinion:
1.) If the customers were willing to pay that much, then great.
2.) It's not very honest that she kept the extra money she earned
3.) There's probably very little they can do about it now
4.) It's quite hilarious!

 

[Chajara]

Honestly, I don't think it's funny at all. It's not that hard to put two and two together and figure out that charging a higher price will net extra money if she can pull it off. If anything, they should be proud of her skills as a salesman for being able to convince people to pay 5 bucks for a box of cookies. The girl needs to be reprimanded and made to apologize. If her parents just laugh, she'll have learned a monumental lesson: that stealing is okay, and better yet, gets positive attention.

 

[Angel4Truth]

Which technically I guess is wrong, but still, you gotta see the humor in it

What I see is more evidence of "there is none who are righteous , no not one" - younger and younger children being overcome with greed and sin , very telling about the state of the world .

 

[Myah]

They dont get to keep the money they sell and she turned in the $2.50 for all her boxes. She just collected a little extra on the side.

Which technically I guess is wrong, but still, you gotta see the humor in it

And her dad didnt go "Good job! Keep it up!" He just laughed about it and said "Its probably not a good idea to be doing that." Im personally impressed that a 9 year old could think it up and pull it off. Plus I think its incredibly funny.

It's not funny at all. It's stealing, whatever word you use for it. The people who bought the cookies gave their money for a specific cause, not to fill the girl's pockets. It's rather sad that the dad didn't take it more seriously. I would have had my bottom tanned.

 

[Corran]

Well the ppl that donated are happy they where able to doante and feel good about them selves.

The soccer team got money so they are happy.

The 9 year old got money so she is happy.

Everyone involved is happy how can something that brings happiness to all involved be wrong?

 

[Talie]

I fail to understand how people can be "impressed" that a child sees no harm in harming others - do we think it's "impressive" when we see children torture and murder other children?

what a world we live in to find this kind of wrong-doing funny in a child

 

[Talie]

it reminds me of what's been in the news over here of late about young children torturing kittens - some people find it's funny - it's a horrific thought to think that children think it's ok to do stuff like this - but i think it's a MORE horrific thought to think adults find it funny

 

[Seeking...]

I just got off the phone with a good friend. They're having a little morale dilema at home. My friend's little sister is selling cookies to raise money for her soccer team. A family friend called a little while back and said how much she loved the cookies my friend's little sister sold to her for $5. Problem is that on the form that her parents got, it said that the boxes were to be sold for $2.50 each. So for about a month now, my friend's little sister has been applying the fine art of "skimming".

Thier parents are fighting about it because her dad is laughing about it and doesnt really care, hes actually impressed that a 9 year old would be able to think something like that up. Her mother is absolutely through the roof about it, absolutely furious. My friend is kind of siding with his dad.

What do you think about the situation? I personally kind of agree with her dad.

Congrats! Your friend's little sister will have a fine future as a con woman. She has mad skills! Most young children lie to cover their butts - but this kid is lining her pockets...

Any kid of mine who did this would be in huge trouble. I'd make her return all of the money personally with an apology for accidentally overcharging them (I wouldn't let her slip taint the charity). She'd forfeit a percent of her allowance and be made to do extra chores in order to equal the amount of money she stole. Maybe a visit to a local police station and courthouse & some discussion of what happens to juvenile offenders....

I don't think behavior like this is cute or should ever be tolerated. A 9 year old who gets away with stuff like this will probably try something bigger and better later on because there was no cost to her. Part of a parent's job is to make immoral/inappropriate behavior have negative consequences so children learn to not behave that way.

 

[Antoninus Verus]

The only problem I see with cracking down is pushing her away. The only thing really to be taught if you crack down is "I can do it again, just dont get caught".

I personally would take her aside, sit her down and explain to her that it probably wasnt the best thing to be doing and Id probably contact a few of her customers after our talk to see if she was stopping, if she didnt, then Id withdraw her from the program.

 

[Seeking...]

The only problem I see with cracking down is pushing her away. The only thing really to be taught if you crack down is "I can do it again, just dont get caught".

I personally would take her aside, sit her down and explain to her that it probably wasnt the best thing to be doing and Id probably contact a few of her customers after our talk to see if she was stopping, if she didnt, then Id withdraw her from the program.

That makes sense if the punishment is unreasonable, but mine wasn't. Everything I suggested was directly related to the child's criminal activities. I'd talk with my child about why lying to her customers and misleading them when they were trying to help out a good cause was wrong. I don't think that having a 9 year old work to help pay back what she stole is excessive either. I'd also add in the teaching lesson about the juvenile system so my child would understand that in just a few years - the penalties would be much stiffer.

You have to discipline children when they do wrong. You let them know that you love them, but are disappointed in the behavior. Make that child think of how they'd feel if something similar was done to them. That is loving discipline - not a crack down.

My goal is to be primarily a loving parent - not a buddy.