I was taught 2 very simple principles regarding others property.

1. If it doesn't belong to you, keep your hands off of it unless invited to do so by the owner.
If we went to someones home and began to handle or mess with other peoples things the conversation always went somethin like this: "Does that belong to you?" to which I would have to answer "No", and the response that always followed was "Then leave it alone".

2. While in a store, unless you personally were going to buy something, leave it alone.
Here's a common conversation that occurred many times as a kid when we were in a store and I picked something up to look at it: my Mom "Kim, what are you doing?", I'd say "I'm looking at this." then my Mom would gently but firmly remind me "You look with your eyes, not your hands.".

These 2 simple rules were intended to teach us respect for things we personally did not own as well as respect in general for other peoples things and anytime we erred, we were quickly reminded.

These principles are really nothing more than simple manners, something else that's seemingly gone the way of the dinosaurs these days. I've heard it said that laws are only in place to "enforce" the concepts of proper manners and this seems pretty reasonable to me.

In our home the rules of proper conduct were well defined and always applied evenly to every situation. What I see in a lot of families is that simple respect for others and their property isn't taught at all and even if it is, the rules are bent and changed all the time, sometimes even totally overlooked. This leads to kids that feel the boundaries can always be pushed regarding whatever rules might have been taught as there's no strict definition of exactly what the rules are.

My feeling is that kids need structure regarding these types of rules that is immutable and consistent to insure they have a clearly defined concept of what's expected of them. Otherwise that expectation is simply a moving target which leads to confusion about what is truly expected of them.

The other major failing I see in parenting is threats of actions or discipline when the kids step outside the bounds of reasonable behavior that are essentially empty in nature.

In our family it went like this. The 1st time we were reminded of what was expected, the 2nd time we were told what was expected of us and if that didn't seem to come across the 3rd time lead to punishment for disregard of the rules. This was always enforced in exactly the same way so there was no confusion about what was expected of us and just as surely a clear understanding that there were absolute consequences if we chose to disobey the rules.

Discipline in our household was never brutal, though it was often physical in nature if we pushed it that far, but it was always consistent and fair. What I see a lot today is parents "threatening" discipline but seldom doing a damned thing more than exactly that which teaches the kids there are no real consequences for their disregard of the rules, whether they be ones outlined by the parents or society.

If more parents actually acted like parents and taught respect for others and then meted out discipline fairly and consistently when the kids break the rules the world would be a much more civil place to live in than what we see these days