Q What is being done about the recent rash of thefts at the Emporia Middle School? When my child reported the theft of an expensive school-related item from her locked locker, she was told they were having a problem with thefts. If the school had warned families that they were having a problem, we would have made sure our child left nothing of importance in her lockers.
A A school administrator denied that EMS has had a rash of thefts from locked lockers.
“Emporia Middle School has not had an unusual number of thefts this fall,” said Assistant Principal Brian Pekarek, “but personal items not stored in lockers sometimes disappear during athletic practices or items are taken from unlocked lockers.”
Pekarek said that coaches have stressed the importance of locking up belongings, and that lockers are big enough for book bags and other student materials.
“Unfortunately, many students leave their lockers unlocked or leave items laying out,” he said. “Some of the items that have been reported stolen by students were left laying out in plain sight and picked up by their coaches and teachers.”
Pekarek said coaches regularly walk through locker rooms and collect belongings that have been left out, to prevent them from being stolen.
“The coaches then give these materials back to the students, but use it as an opportunity to teach the students a lesson about locking up their lockers,” he said.
Pekarek said that because of a high rate of student-athlete participation at EMS, supervision in the locker rooms has been increased.
“We hope more supervision by adults and good habits by our students can eliminate thefts of student property,” he said.
Happiness08 (anonymous) says...
Sounds like you need a reality check mom. I think your child has "pulled the wool over your eyes." Must have some real professional criminals there at that middle school if they are able to get into locked up lockers.
September 24, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stryker1_25 (anonymous) says...
I wouldn't put it past a 7th or 8th grader to figure out how to crack a pad lock on a locker. They've got easy access to that info on the web.
Your best bet is to make sure your child doesn't take expensive ipods and games to school. If it was an expensive graphing calculator or similar device, I can't imagine those being hot items to steal. I don't think you'll need a calculator like that for 7th and 8th grade math anyways. Not even for algebra.
If they can't go to school without the ipod, then have them keep it on person. They're all small enough to keep in a pocket. Same goes for most games.
September 24, 2008 at 4:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Locked lockers do get opened, it happened to me back when I went to high school in Emporia many moons ago. I never trusted the combination locks to be secure, so I took a good quality Master key lock to put on my gym locker and kept the key in my gym shoe while in class. I had $80 in cash in my billfold to go pay my insurance premium after school was out(wish premiums were still that affordable and yes I paid for everything on my own). I didn't have a checkbook at the time, and frankly I didn't trust the office staff to keep my money safe. I knew better than to leave it in the car. I also had a brand new goose down ski jacket that went into my lst hour gym locker with the rest of my clothes. When I came back from gym class, I noticed my paycheck stubs in the trash can by the door. I ran to my locker and found that was still locked? I opened it up and my clothes were folded the same as I left them, my billfold was in my pants pocket. The cash was gone, as was my new coat. I was 6'01" and weighed 250lbs with a 50" chest as a freshman, not many would be able to have much use for that size of a coat besides adults. I reported it to the gym teacher and other staff members present that morning, who all talked down to me like I had done something wrong.I was told it was my fault for having the stuff in my locker in the lst place. I reported it to the office, of course it was my fault for not turning the cash in to them, no reports were made, not one bit of help nor sympathy from them either.
I can imagine how bad it is today, society is much worse now then it was nearly 30yrs ago.
September 24, 2008 at 5:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kitty93 (anonymous) says...
same thing happening at EHS.... nothing new there
September 25, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawker (anonymous) says...
A few years ago, several of my grandchildren had things stolen from them at both EMS and EHS. If I understood correctly, it was a common thing. I haven't heard my great grandchildren say anything about a problem, however.
September 25, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )