(P) Learning Opportunity: Stolen Cellphone

Fascinating tale of a lost cell phone, attempts to retrieve it and lost concepts of honesty, justice and shame.

Opening lines from the NYTimes story:

The tale began when Mr. Guttman's best friend Ivanna left her cellphone in a taxicab, like thousands of others before her. After Ivanna got a new Sidekick, she logged on to her account — and was confronted by pictures of an unfamiliar young woman and her family, along with the young woman's America Online screen name.

The 16-year-old, Sasha Gomez, of Corona, Queens, had been using the Sidekick to take pictures and send instant messages. She apparently did not know that the company that provided the phone's service, T-Mobile, automatically backs up such information on its remote servers. So when Ivanna got back on, there was Sasha.

Using instant messages, Mr. Guttman tracked down Sasha and asked her to return it. "Basically, she told me to get lost," Mr. Guttman recalled. "That was it."

So he set up a no-frills Web page with a brief account of what happened, and posted the pictures of the girl and her family.

Now, as a parent, I want to talk this little matter through with my kids. In this real-life account, Sasha was not honest enough to return the phone when asked. She had her reasons, and her supporters. A lot here to mine with your kids, or even just a small group of friends at the coffee shop.

Give it a read, and some thought.