The Stolen Candy
Lying... blaming... these responses come all-too-easily to children who are caught in a misdeed. This story demonstrates a different response from a second grader who learned an important lesson from The Young Peacemaker.
When Marilyn heard about the 5 A's of Confession from The Young Peacemaker, she immediately taught the principles to her second grade class. She also taught them that when they make a bad choice and then lie about it or blame others, they are creating "double trouble" for themselves.
A few days after teaching the material, she discovered that one of her students had stolen a piece of candy from her desk. When she confronted Joey (not his real name), he denied that he had taken the candy. She assured him that she would forgive him if he admitted taking it, and then she urged him to think about it over the weekend. On Monday he still professed innocence, so she encouraged him to think about using the "5 A's."
That afternoon he approached her desk and asked, "Can we talk about the candy?"
"Of course," she replied.
"I admit I took the candy from your desk," he said, "and I'm sorry for lying to you. I'm going to ask you to forgive me--will you forgive me?"
"Yes, I will forgive you," she assured him with a smile.
Remembering the third "A", he continued, "and I'm prepared to accept the consequences."
She told him that she did not have specific consequences for stealing in her classroom because she expected her students to be honest. She then asked him what he thought his consequence should be.
"I could have bought the candy at the store for a dime, so how about if I give you fifteen cents?"
"That would be fine," she said.
After thinking a moment, he added, "I think I should give you another fifteen cents because I lied to you. And next time I won't fall into temptation!" (These were his actual words!)
The next morning he came to school with thirty cents for his teacher and told her that he had gotten it from his own piggy bank. As she accepted the coins, she praised him for the way he had taken responsibility for what he did. Needless to say, he walked away with a clear conscience, a valuable lesson, and the comforting knowledge that nothing stood between him and his teacher.
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