“It just doesn’t make sense to steal anything… I don’t feel safe putting my stuff anywhere. All because one person decided to go into my things and take something that belonged to me,” said math teacher DaQuan Bashir.

Mr. Bashir had $20 and his Beats By Dre headphones taken from him. He had left his bag in his room like he does everyday.

He said, “I was fine. I put my wallet down, something I usually do every single day, so I’m not thinking today is the day my stuff is going to get stolen.”

But it was. After he took his class to convocation, he came back to teach third block and as he walked in he saw that his bag had been opened. A student looked at him and asked, if somebody stole something? Mr. Bashir replied, “Yep”.

“It’s upsetting,” he said.

Mr. Bashir said the thing that upset him the most is that he did not think it would happen. He did know that St. Benedict’s has had a stealing problem in recent years. He is not upset about the money or the headphones because he said that money is relative, it leaves and comes back. He just hopes that whoever took it really needed it for something important.

But Assistant Headmaster Mike Scanlan does not think need always leads to stealing. He said, “People don’t always steal because they need the money; it’s not like they take the money because they need it to pay the bills or to eat.”

Mr. Scanlan said he feels horrible for Mr. Bashir and for the kids that care about him. “Mr. Bashir is for a lot of guys what they don’t have in their own life,” he said. “Mr. Bashir gives a lot for the school in the classroom, at nights, and on the weekends.”

White section senior leader Thomas Schwartz said that stealing has gotten worse this year.

“ I feel like disrespect and cowardice has been growing among a small group in the school body.”

Thomas said that for stealing to stop, administration and student leaders have to be more harsh on students who steal. Mr. Scanlan said that parents can be a great help in ending stealing at St Benedict’s Prep. He said, “I think parents can be a help by knowing what their kid have when they see something that they don’t recognize… Parents need to be vigilant about their kid’s money.”

Mr. Scanlan said a student violates the relationship with an adult by stealing. “If a student would steal from a teacher or an adult, it shows there is an absence in boundaries,” he said.

Students are also having their stuff stolen. Senior Magnum Phelps had $60 stolen from his bag in the cross country locker room.

“I was pissed,” he said.

Senior, Magnum Phelps believes stealing is a result of the lack of respect among the community.

“People should start having respect for each other because if they steal from somebody they don’t have respect for that person.”