DR. WALLACE: A good friend of mine had her locker at our high school broken into and vandalized. She said that someone stole several pieces of expensive jewelry that she had stored there. She does wear quite nice jewelry to school sometimes, and on the day it happened she didn't have any jewelry on her person, so I fully believe her. She said she often puts her jewelry into her locker before she goes to gym class.

She filed a complaint with the school administration office and the principal even called out local law enforcement to take her statement and write a report on the incident. I asked her if she had any idea who might have done this to her, but she just looked at me and said, "I have no clue."

Several other students and I have been discussing this matter. We think this is terrible and we all promised one another we'd stay vigilant and keep an eye on all our lockers at school.

Can my friend sue the school for the loss of her items since her locker was not "burglar-proof?" — Fellow Student, via email

FELLOW STUDENT: Your high school is very unlikely to be responsible for this incident. Every school district I'm aware of warns students in writing not to store valuables in their locker during the school day and especially not overnight.

Her family may be able to file a claim if they have a personal insurance policy, so it's good that she met immediately with the school's administration and that she also spoke to law enforcement to document this incident.

It's never a good idea to bring valuables onto a high school campus, and the risk of loss is increased dramatically by not keeping valuables under one's constant control. Hopefully this difficult lesson will influence other students at your school to be very careful not to leave valuables stored in their lockers. Lockers were originally conceived at the high school level as a safe place to store the several different textbooks needed throughout a long school day. They were never intended as a place to store cash, cellphones, jewelry or any other valuables.

DR. WALLACE: As I was leaving class the other day, I was having trouble collecting all of my belongings, so I was one of the last students to leave the classroom. In fact, there was only one other student in the room, and I noticed he was speaking to our art teacher as I turned to walk toward the door.

Just before I reached for the doorknob to head into the hallway, I heard them raise their voices with each other. I couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but it might have been possible that this student was threatening our teacher in some way.

I continued out into the hallway and did not look back. Now I'm wondering, should I say something to our teacher or to anyone in the school administration about this matter? — Concerned Student, via email

CONCERNED STUDENT: I'd say that it would be wise to watch this situation carefully in the future. Without mentioning the incident, see what you can find out about the student in question. If you discover any alarming news, you should notify the school's administrators so that they can quickly investigate the matter.

However, if you discover that this student has a normal reputation at your school and does not pose any risk that you are aware of, then it might be best to simply speak to your teacher alone about the incident as soon as possible.

In that case, be honest in that you heard raised voices but did not actually hear the conversation. Ask your instructor if everything is OK and whether he or she needs any assistance with the situation. You will have then both cleared your conscience and your worried mind as well as informed your teacher that someone noticed at least part of what was going on.

From there, if you do see or hear anything more between this teacher and that student, you should absolutely inform your school's administration immediately. I also advise you to let your parents know about this matter. They may also wish to advise and counsel you on what actions to take, if any.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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