SHOPLIFTING CULTURE

THE DiSTURBiNG RATE OF STEALiNG AMONG TEENAGERS

BY JEANNINE CHIANG Sta Reporter

In “Ginny & Georgia,” 15-yearold Ginny and her gaggle of friends swipe a shirt and jewelry from the mall. Although the store owner spots them, the girls escape any real consequences.

Much like Ginny, teenagers are all too familiar with slipping an item in their purses — and getting away with it. According to Deep Sentinel, approximately 10-11% of the U.S. population has shopli ed at some point in their lives, and shopli ing is most prominent among teenagers. Whether the stolen valuables are food, alcohol, clothes or, at Burlingame, other students’ Physical Education (PE) locker locks, shopli ing among teenagers is no longer a rare occurrence.

In recent years, popular teenage retail brands such as Brandy Melville, Pacsun, and Urban Outtters have lost mass pro ts due to customers shopli ing. According to the Los Angeles Times, for every $1 billion in sales that a retail store makes, $700,000 is lost to the . California only covers 10% of the price of a retail store’s stolen items, so businesses lose 1-5% of a store’s annual stock, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Many contribute [to stealing] because it could be a way to ‘seem cool’ or impress others. But at the same time, many people are just reluctant to spend over a certain budget for clothing, accessories, or whatever it may be,” sophomore Sophia Geminder said. “Take stores like Urban Outtters, for example. Some basic shirts cost almost $70, and not a lot of people are willing to spend that type of money on something they won’t wear every day.”

While Geminder believes that shopli ing is attractive because of soaring clothing costs, she also