By Reina Zeitouni
On September 4th, there were two phone thefts that occurred during the same period in the girl’s gym locker room of Southview High School. Considering the fact that theft is a serious crime, students should not take phone safety precautions lightly. The possibility of someone snatching one’s phone after leaving it unattended is too high of a risk to take, considering that phones can cost more than hundreds of dollars. Although one’s phone being stolen is a nerve-wracking situation to experience, the victims of the thefts learned a lot from this mishap.
Ruth LaRoy, a sophomore taking gym class first period, had her phone stolen when she and her class went on a walk to Olander Park. Rushed to leave the building, she placed her phone in her locker and left it open. “I normally have it hidden so people can’t see it,” LaRoy justified, “but this particular day I had it left out.” She emphasized that it was the very first time she’d ever left her phone out in the open, proving that a simple mistake which most students blow off, can have grave consequences. When she came back from the walk, her phone had disappeared. “I looked on the floor, in my locker, other people’s lockers; no one had seen it or knew where it was.” LaRoy said, “That’s when I knew that something was wrong.” Burdened with the worry that her parents will be upset, LaRoy determined her phone’s location after lunch by using her friend’s Find My Iphone app. Despite the opportunity, she went to her next class instead of searching for her phone. This caused an inconvenience because, right after 5th period lunch ended, the thief shut off her phone, making the Find My Iphone app useless. Around a week later, LaRoy’s phone was eventually found and returned to its rightful owner after an investigation with Mr. Novotny. Although this was good news, the phone couldn’t function properly as it did before, meaning it had been tampered with.
In the same gym class, freshman Emma Warns became another victim of phone theft after also leaving her phone out in the open. After realizing it was stolen, Warns went to Mr. Novotny for help in finding the phone. He had checked the security cameras of the gym hallway and searched the lockers, but neither of the lost phones were found in the process. Eventually, Warns’ mother became involved and expressed that she would not press charges if the thief simply returned the phone. Luckily, once this was announced, the thief turned in the phone. However, the phone was not in its original condition, similar to LaRoy’s issue. This forced her to get a new SIM card in order to revert her phone to the way it was before the theft.
Inevitably, after this incident, both girls have been much more careful when it comes to taking care of their phones, and believe that other students should follow the same measures. LaRoy suggested to follow the basics: get a combination lock, or keep it with you at all times. Otherwise, a phone could be stolen and it may not be possible to get it back, even with an abundance of investigation. Warns states that the safety of one’s phone is in their own hands. “It’s not the school’s responsibility to make sure that our phones are always safe, that’s our responsibility,” she said, “We have to do what is right for our own property.”
Southview Catalyst 