Finders Keepers?

Jack says: We found it, so it’s ours.

    Wow, Priya! Can you believe we found $100 on the sidewalk outside the school? We’re so lucky! We should definitely keep it. After all, it’s not like we took the money from someone’s pocket. We don’t know who lost it, and that person might not even know it’s gone. 

    Sure, it would be nice if we could return the cash to its owner. But it would be impossible to find that person. We can’t put up signs at school saying “Found: $100.” Anybody could say the money was theirs. Think about it: How would we know if they were telling the truth?

    Besides, no one will judge us if we keep the cash. Plenty of people in our position would do the same thing. 

    In fact, editors at Scholastic did a survey. They asked 376 middle school students what they would do if they found $100. Almost half of them said they would keep the money. Are all these kids bad people? I doubt it. 

    I have an idea. We’ll keep the money, but we won’t buy anything for ourselves. We’ll use the $100 to do some good. We could buy new volleyballs for the gym or help the band pay for new uniforms. That way, we’ll use the money to help the school.

    What do you say?

Priya says: Keeping the cash is stealing.

    Hey, Jack: I don’t feel so lucky. I just feel bad for whoever lost $100. That’s a lot of cash! Think about how the person who lost it must feel right now. What if they  need the money to eat? 

    It’s actually illegal to keep money you find on the street if it’s possible to find the owner. That’s why we need to try our hardest to figure out who dropped this cash. Otherwise, we’re stealing.

    The survey you mention is interesting—but what if other people said they would steal video games from a store? Would you think that was OK too? 

    I wouldn’t! Just because other people would do something doesn’t make it right. 

    I think we should put up posters around the school—but the posters shouldn’t say how much money we found. That way, we can ask people how much cash they’re missing. If they can’t tell us the amount, we’ll know that they’re lying to us. Smart, right?

    Using the money to help the school is a nice idea. But we have to try to find the owner first. It’s simply the honorable thing to do. 

Jack says: We found it, so it’s ours.

    Wow, Priya! Can you believe we found $100 on the sidewalk outside the school? We’re so lucky! We should keep it. After all, it’s not like we took the money from someone’s pocket. We don’t know who lost it. And that person might not even know it’s gone.

    Sure, it would be nice if we could return the cash to its owner. But we can’t find that person. We can’t put up signs saying “Found: $100.” Anyone could say the money was theirs. How would we know if they were telling the truth?

    Besides, no one will judge us if we keep the cash. Many people would do the same thing.

    Editors at Scholastic did a survey. They asked 376 middle school students what they would do if they found $100. Almost half of them said they would keep it. Are all these kids bad people? I doubt it.

    I have an idea. We’ll keep the money, but we won’t buy anything for ourselves. We’ll use the money to do some good. We could buy new volleyballs for the gym or help the band pay for new uniforms. That way, we’ll use the money to help the school.

    What do you say?

Priya says: Keeping the cash is stealing.

    Hey, Jack: I don’t feel lucky. I just feel bad for whoever lost $100. That’s a lot of cash! Think about how the person who lost it must feel. What if they need the money to eat?

    It’s against the law to keep money you find on the street if it’s possible to find the owner. That’s why we need to try our hardest to figure out who dropped this cash. If we don’t, we’re stealing.

    The survey you mentioned is interesting. But what if other kids said they would steal video games from a store? Would you think that was OK too?

    I wouldn’t! Just because other people would do something doesn’t make it right.

    I think we should put up posters at school. But they shouldn’t say how much money we found. That way, we can ask people how much they lost. If they can’t tell us the amount, we’ll know they’re lying. Smart, right?

    Using the money to help the school is a nice idea. But we have to try to find the owner first. It’s the right thing to do.

Jack says: We found it, so it’s ours.

    Wow, Priya! Can you believe we found a hundred bucks lying on the sidewalk near school? What unbelievable luck! We should definitely keep it. After all, it’s not like we grabbed the money out of someone’s pocket. We don’t have the slightest idea who lost it, and that person might not even realize it’s missing.

    Sure, it would be nice if we could return the cash to its rightful owner, but we have virtually no chance of finding that person. If we put up signs at school saying “Found: $100,” anybody could claim ownership. How would we know if they were being honest?

    Besides, no one will judge us for keeping the cash. Plenty of people in our position would do the same thing. 

    When Scholastic editors surveyed 376 middle school students about what they would do if they found $100, almost 50 percent of them said they’d keep the money. Are all these kids terrible human beings? I doubt it.

    I’ve got a brilliant idea: We’ll keep the money, but rather than buying anything for ourselves, we’ll let the school benefit from our good luck. We could buy new volleyballs for the gym or help the band pay for new uniforms. 

    What do you say?

Priya says: Keeping the cash is stealing.

    Hey, Jack: I don’t feel especially lucky. Mainly, I feel terrible for whoever had the misfortune to lose a hundred dollars. Imagine how that person must feel right now. What if they need the money for groceries?

    It’s actually illegal to keep money you find on the street if it’s possible to identify the owner—so we have an obligation to try our hardest to figure out who dropped this cash. Otherwise, we’re criminals.

    The survey you mention is certainly interesting—but if other people said they would shoplift video games from a store, would you automatically consider that acceptable behavior too?

    The fact that other people would do something doesn’t make it right.

    I think we should put up posters around the school—but they shouldn’t specify how much money we found. That way, we can ask people how much cash they’re missing, and if they can’t tell us the exact amount, we’ll know that they’re lying to us. 

    Using the money to help the school would be satisfying, but first we have to make a sincere effort to find the true owner. It’s simply the honorable thing to do.