Girl A girl stole another Girl B's purse. B's mom sent money in a little, purple purse to pay a library fine. Girl A had a history of stealing at school; I had even caught her. I didn't know about the purse theft for a few days.

Me: Girl A, did you take the purse?

Girl A: Yes.

Me: Where it's it?

Girl A: I took it home.

I couldn't reach the mother and ended up sending a note home. The next day, the mom storms over to me in the parent pick up area.

Mom: How can you put the blame on my daughter?

Me: She said she took the purse.

Mom: She couldn't have. I look in her backpack every day. There was no purse.

Me: She said she took it.

Mom: You're being very unfair. She cried all night. You can't just blame her. She doesn't steal.

Me: Why would she say she took it?

Mom: You're her teacher. She's supposed to say yes.

Me: Ask her if she took the purse.

Mom: (Girl A), did you take it?

Girl A: Yeah.

Mom: Why would you say that?

A few days go by.

Mom: We searched the apartment for hours and didn't find a purse.

I let it go. A week or so goes by and Girl A brings the purse and money back to school. I commended her for being honest. A few days later, I see the mom at the school.

Me: Your daughter showed a lot of honesty in returning the purse.

Mom: What? She had it?

Girl A looked terrified.

The next day the girl came to school and said her mom had hit her the previous afternoon.