Dear Angela,
I was horrified when I found out that my 12-year-old daughter had been arrested for stealing some make-up from a high street chemist’s. This happened because she had been dared by some older children from her school. She was so frightened that she started crying –which is what attracted the attention of the shop assistant. The police were called and she was given a tell-off at the police station.
Since this terrifying experience, she has been too afraid to go out on her own and cries all the time. My husband doesn’t seem to care that much. He says that she shouldn’t have stolen in the first place and was unlucky to be caught. Now it is over she must learn to live with it. But I feel a failure as a parent and am afraid that my child will turn to crime later on in life.
Yours sincerely,
Ashamed