Heartbroken over a stolen iPod....

We bought our son an iPod Nano 4GB for his birthday recently and it was stolen from his school locker a few weeks ago.

Our boy came home in tears and told us that he went to his locker at first break and found the combination lock open and his Nano gone....

I spoke to the Principal the next day and unfortunately there was very little to do about it at a school with 900 pupils.

How the thief knew the combination has us stumped and we feel responsible for allowing our son to take such an expensive toy/possession to school.

If I had the money I would buy him a replacement straight away but would that have been the right thing to do?

Now, he is constantly talking about an iPod that plays video as well as songs/jpgs.

How quickly time heals when you are young...........

ok... the theif did not need ot know the combo to get the locker open. Some of the cheap lock if hit upwards hard will just open (reason why i always had a good lock on my locker at school). So you can pretty much rule out somebody who knows the combo like close friends, girlfriend, etc.

I would talk to the principal again and have them take swifter action. I would also go to the local police to file a report.

Pulse-8 said:

We bought our son an iPod Nano 4GB for his birthday recently and it was stolen from his school locker a few weeks ago.

Our boy came home in tears and told us that he went to his locker at first break and found the combination lock open and his Nano gone....

I spoke to the Principal the next day and unfortunately there was very little to do about it at a school with 900 pupils.

How the thief knew the combination has us stumped and we feel responsible for allowing our son to take such an expensive toy/possession to school.

If I had the money I would buy him a replacement straight away but would that have been the right thing to do?

Now, he is constantly talking about an iPod that plays video as well as songs/jpgs.

How quickly time heals when you are young...........

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there's nothing that can be done unless the thief has a guilty conscious. In the end he'll learn a good lesson, so I wouldn't worry too much. He's lucky to be in a family that can afford a $250 birthday present in the first place.

It's not something he should be crying about when he is the one that did something wrong, the principal will do NOTHING. I know because I had my gameboy stolen several years back.

Your NOT supposed to bring that stuff to school...it's in the code of conduct.

I don't mean to be mean, but I'm telling the truth, theres nothing you can really do. Sorry.
---

Now, if his MB was stolen, THEN I'd bring is some CSI type stuff then search and destroy the theif xD

Thank you.

PumpkinLand said:

Your NOT supposed to bring that stuff to school...it's in the code of conduct. I don't mean to be mean, but I'm telling the truth, theres nothing you can really do. Sorry.

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Yours is a fair comment PumpkinLand.

The school has a clear policy on mobiles, gameboys, iPods etc.

The difficult part is that our boy only wore it to school then stored it in his locker. If anything it's those white earphones that are a dead give-away.

PowerBookG4:

Some of the cheap lock if hit upwards hard will just open

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What you say corresponds with my sons story, that the combo locks will open if pulled on with force.

My son replaced the lock with a keyed one (the school only gives combo ones out) and was also offered a new locker in a different location.

Thank you all for your posts :]

I had $700 stolen from my locker.

Completely my fault. I was going to the bank after school, so I just threw it in my Econ book in my locker.

Came back after class and it was gone.

macdillon said:

I had $700 stolen from my locker.

Completely my fault. I was going to the bank after school, so I just threw it in my Econ book in my locker.

Came back after class and it was gone.

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There must be hundreds of pilfered locker stories in the world....I didn't realize that, just thought my son's was the most valuable possesion taken.

It would have hurt bad, losing that much money.

BTW macdillon, which version of Hallelujah is your favourite?

I love the Jeff Buckley version. :headphone

Pulse-8 said:

There must be hundreds of pilfered locker stories in the world....I didn't realize that, just thought my son's was the most valuable possesion taken.

It would have hurt bad, losing that much money.

BTW macdillon, which version of Hallelujah is your favourite?

I love the Jeff Buckley version. :headphone

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Imogen Heap. Hands down.

I'd suggest reporting the serial number as stolen (there are a few sites that track these things) and buy a better lock.

Consider getting him a smaller iPod to tide him over... this way he'll also learn the value of items. Just replacing it with a similar or better iPod will not teach him the value of things.

when i went to highschool for 4 years i never knew the combination to my locker, all i had to do was give a quick pull or push the thing up and it opened. i always just carried around such things all day whenever i had them because i knew how easy it was to get into them.

no i am sure that there is something that the school can do for breaking into the locker and stealing stuff. just press them hard enough
-chris

Many thanks for your posts Aptmunich and coach_z...

I feel heartened now that your posts have made me realize that we do have the original packaging and that the thief or the unsuspecting other parties that buy it from the thief may stumble by registering it, possibly leading to our recovery of the Nano.

Most schools have a "bring things at your own risk" clause in the handbook.

macdillon said:

Most schools have a "bring things at your own risk" clause in the handbook.

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macdillon is right. Regardless of how much I wanted to turn that school upside down and bodysearch everybody, the chances of finding the Nano weren't great.

Our son reported it to his Grade Supervisors straight away but we didn't hear about it until after school.

There are too many students and with the Politically Correct climate out of control, there is very little to do to weed out the thief.

I had resigned myself to the fact that it was gone until Aptmunich suggested the tracking of the serial number through Apple registrations.

I will be on the phone as soon as I get the chance and hope it's not too late to report it to the police, as it will be 2 weeks ago tomorrow since the theft.

you should have filed a report with the police right away.

macdillon said:

you should have filed a report with the police right away.

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Yeah, I agree. They are the only ones who would really be able to take any action in the matter. No matter how much we might like it to be, the school isn't responsible for this in any way, shape or form. In the end, the responsiblitly for the item's security and safety is the owner's (ie: your son).

macdillon said:

you should have filed a report with the police right away.

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Don't rub it in. Do you think its too late?

It's never too late, but I highly doubt they will do much.

Hi,

I reported the theft to Apple and they recorded it in their System as stolen.

They said they would contact me if anything arose.

I know in the greater scheme of things this is an extremely trivial matter when compared to more serious matters, but heartbreak is heartbreak.....

Pulse-8 said:

I know in the greater scheme of things this is an extremely trivial matter when compared to more serious matters, but heartbreak is heartbreak.....

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yes it is, he could be growing up in a war zone starving to death, and about materialism keep in mind... the more you have, the more you have to loose

heartbreak? now that's like the 3 time I heard you say that word... times may have changed, but isn't that what happens when you get shot down by a girl?

so let me draw some inappropriate and mildly entertaining parallels with your first post... (no offense, it's nothing personal):

Heartbroken over a stolen iPod [girl]

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...a few weeks ago... Our boy came home in tears and told us that his Nano [girl is] gone....

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I spoke to the Principal the next day and unfortunately there was very little to do about it at a school with 900 pupils.

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yeah man, she's obviously a cheatin witch anyway

If I had the money I would buy him a replacement straight away but would that have been the right thing to do?

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no.. I don't think that's legal

Now, he is constantly talking about an iPod that plays video as well as songs/jpgs.

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he's moving on to bigger and better girls, good

How quickly time heals when you are young...........

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yeap well live and let learn

Yeah, reporting to the police and especially to Apple will help track down the serial number, linking you to the iPod. It is true that your son should not have left his iPod in his locker, but you live and learn. You have to take whatever life throws at you and catch it, only to throw it back. You fall off the horse, you get back up again.

What you should do about your son's iPod situation: Make him get his own iPod. If he spends his own money, he'll learn the value of a dollar. That's what my parents did to me, and I am not as free-spending as many of my friends. I only get what I can afford, and usually these are small luxuries. Once in a while, I have fun, spend a bit more cash, but for the most part I stay tight on my expendiatures. If he learns that he has to pay for his iPod, then he'll think twice about asking again. And better yet: tell him he has to get an iPod and not go outside of Apple's products, they are a bit more expensive, but much higher quality. He'll learn to get better quality by spending more. It'll also make him think about raising the money. That's my suggestion, though...

Anyway bottom line: I don't know, re-read my post if you don't get it.