I've never liked this creepy commentary. What kind of granddaddy purposely entraps his grandchild just so he can shame her? Imparting a lesson after something spontaneously happens is certainly better than setting up an entire scenario to lure an impressionable child into doing something wrong. Good idea, wrong method, Granddaddy.

Well, John, you know what? I disagree because she's only a child and doesn't know better. You have to understand that.

One time I stole a car from Freddy's and then I went to my mom's work.
My dad got really scared and called the cops. Soon enough
they found me, and my dad was relieved but mad that I stole a car.
I never stole again. This story reminded me of how disappointed
my dad was.

If you take money from your granddaddy, you may lose his trust. My brother got caught stealing at Kmart. My dad was disappointed with him for a long time and made my brother feel bad.

I disagree too. He is just trying to teach her important morals in life.

I think this is very meaningful for saying people need trust. A child could just ask, and if they can't have it they will learn a lesson. Living through life, parents, teachers and even friends teach you the important meanings. Trust is very important because it shows reality.

Mr. Josephson: About everything you say, I agree with. However,
I told a teacher to tell this little boy who cursed in school that when someone does something that he knows is wrong, he damages his self-respect. And I do believe this. Many adults who have done something wrong that nobody found out about are hard and not well-equipped to deal with reality.

That's my thoughts.

This is so amazing...character @ its best disposal.
Keep it up, Michael.
Be blessed!

It's interesting to me that you would all assume that the grandpa set the little girl up. I guess I view the world differently. Isn't it possible that the quarters were there coincidentally, and that the grandpa was looking to see how many cookies the little girl had taken? Or whether she had soiled her nice white gloves?

What am I missing here? The grandfather didn't "entrap" his granddaughter. He gave her liberty to go get a cookie. The little girl's eye saw something she didn't have permission to take and she made a wrong decision, period. This is a great illustration. Keep on keepin' on, Michael Josephson.

I agree with John. Who keeps a stack of quarters on a kitchen counter right next to the cookies? It's not exactly the most sanitary arrangement either. People think it's a good lesson to teach a little girl. However, if we extrapolate, what if the girl is 15 instead of 5 and next to the cookies is grandpa's bottle of prescription pain medication. Do we want to see if the 15-year-old takes some of that?

Instead of creating traps for children, we need to teach them what is right and what is wrong and then live what we teach to reinforce it in their minds.

If this had been my grandfather, I never would have trusted him again. I would have been looking for the trick behind every treat. In fact, the next time he offered me a treat, I probably would have said "No, thank you." Maybe I would have kept saying "No, thank you" to all treats he offered me in the future.

I feel very strongly that this was indeed an innocent lesson of trust. I concur with the writer who stated the grandfather could have been checking for soiled white gloves. I find it difficult as a grandparent to accept the premise that the grandparent had in mind to entrap the grandchild. Please continue your fine work on character.

My daughter told me why she is honest today. About 5 years old, while she was at the grocery store, she stole a candy bar. Arriving home, her mom (me) took her back to the store, had her admit what she had done, and apologize to the manager. I don't remember this event at all, but it really had an impact on her.

Wow, Stephanie,
Your skewed view hints at an apparently disappointing life experience as an ominous cloud of suspicion covers your mind's eye. Sanitary conditions, pain meds, thinking the worst of a grandparent with no history? Ouch, I am truly sorry for your obvious pain. Take the story for what it is, though, a simple story, and try not to let soap opera drama and if/then scenarios cast a dark shadow over a simple lesson.

What the girl did was wrong, but what her grandpa did was the right thing. He told her stealing is wrong. If he never said that, probably she would be stealing whatever she sees. But the gift that her granddaddy gave was about not stealing. Even she knew her mistake. She cried about what she had done. But her granddaddy forgave her and told her not to do it again. The lesson here is to never steal from anyone because that can hurt someone or maybe make them worried about it.

I agree with John and Stephanie. Those of you who think the grandfather acted innocently are sorely deceived. I am certainly glad I never leave my children in your care. I suppose you all would support the grandfather if he purposely heated up a frying pan to teach his granddaughter about the dangers of the stove. The grandfather's deceit was a poor show of character. It amounted to nothing short of the ethical equivalent of a speed trap. John said it best, "Good idea, wrong method."

There will be temptation in all of our lives forever. It is not entrapment at any age. Temptation will always be here. I find the last statement a little odd. How do you live your life when no one is looking! That is what I teach my children. They would bring me the quarter at any age.

Much research has attempted to determine at which age children recognize the difference between right and wrong. One interesting comment from children is that it is OK for children to lie to an adult because the adult should know better but that it's rotten to lie to another kid because they can't tell the difference. Children must be taught the difference between right and wrong; morals are not a natural occurrence. The author of this story learned a valuable lesson at an early age. Lucky girl. Lucky for the rest of us, too. Wouldn't the world be a better place if everyone learned this lesson as a child?

Let me see if I get this straight: The ends justify the means? The ends never justify the means. The grandfather was manipulative and deceitful. Are those traits that define good character? He purposely set up a situation in which the goal was to trap an otherwise honest child into stealing. For what purpose? Aren't there enough learning opportunities in any given day? Don't children make enough mistakes on their own without having to manufacture one? When you complain about crooked politicians or businesses, look in the mirror because it is your deficient standards that have allowed them to flourish.

Maybe the quarters were there because they still tip the paper boy in this day and age. Maybe Grandpa got up to go to the bathroom and saw her take the quarter through the doorway. Seriously, folks, the commentary does not tell us enough information to know if Grandpa set her up or not. Bottom line, she's a lucky little girl to have learned this lesson without humiliation and condemnation which was the real point to the commentary. As a school counselor, I can only wish that more students would come to school having learned right from wrong at an early age.

This means that if you love somebody, you should not steal from them like in the blog because then they would catch you and you would be mad and wish you never did it. That is why you should not steal from anybody.