Damaged phone at school

[rachel38]

Hi, my ds has come home from secondary school this evening with a smashed screen on his phone. His phone has to remain in his bag all day - shcool rules - and he assures me that he did not drop it. I'm not being suckered in by a lie and am sure that he is telling the truth. His bag is left by the entrance to the lunch hall with others and he seems pretty certain that someone kicked his bag, therefore breaking the phone. Unfortunately for him, he's having some trouble with another child - today he tripped and pushed ds leaving a bruise and lump on his head. This is not the first time. My ds is not claiming that this boy kicked his bag, though he has seen him do it before along with some others. What (if anything) can I expect of the school? I'm guessing that it'll be a talk about respecting other people's property, not sure what else they can do. Any thought/ ideas greatly welcomed.

[Allthebestnamesareused]

Sorry if this comes across as blunt but you can expect the school to do nothing. Your DS takes the phone in at his own risk. He knows what the rules are and so he knows it needs to stay in his bag. He should make sure it is in a solid case and in a part of a bag where it is less likely to get damaged.

[rachel38]

The phone was in his bag all day and in a case intended to protect it. Do you not think that perhaps they shouldn't be kicking bags anyway? His glasses are usually in there too, though, thankfully, not today or they would also have been broken.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Seriously?!

He takes it to school at his own risk, the school has absolutely no responsibility for this.

If he can't afford to lose it, he shouldn't take it.

[LIZS]

Phones are taken into school at own risk. What is the school's policy on use in school? Dc's is they leave in lockers unless in 6th form. Would he even admit he might have dropped or mishandled it?

[Wolfiefan]

He didn't see anyone kick his bag?
So he's guessing?
You can't expect school to do anything I'm afraid. Don't they have lockers he can secure his phone in? Surely it's a theft risk leaving bags and valuables lying about?

[VintagePerfumista]

A kick would be unlikely to smash a screen. It might stop a phone from working, dislodge a battery, or dent the casing.

Unless it was a kick done with a winklepicker and directly onto the phone, I can't see it having been done by a shoe.

I'd be doing a very big chinny-reckon if dd, or any of my students at school came out with that one tbh.

But no, of course school won't do anything or have any responsibility. Why on earth would they?

[VintagePerfumista]

You should however be speaking to school about the bullying.

[MirandaWest]

Do you have insurance? This is the time to use it.

[SleepingCitySidewalk]

I would be more concerned about your Ds being tripped and having a lump on his head tbh

If he takes a phone, could he not sew a pocket on the inside of his blazer/jumper and keep it in there turned off? An unattended phone is just asking to be nicked or damaged.

I tend to take their view that once they are at secondary, contact should only be made by parents for serious stuff that a DC cannot handle. Bullying, serious home issues, SEN issues etc. It's not primary school. Please don't ring and moan that your DS left a phone unattended in a bag and it got broken!

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

I would address the physical intimidation first. Was DS more upset at the phone being broken or the other lad shoving him? How long has there been this ill-will? Has he told a teacher? Did anyone else witness the other child shove/push?

[rachel38]

Sleepycity, I'm very concerned about the bullying and that this, potentially, is part, though unproven, part of it. He cannot sew a secret pocket as this would be against school rules. I'm also not intending to take up teachers valuable time - I'm one myself, just, perhaps naively, hoped some-one else may have had a similar experience and be able to offer some advice on what they have done in a similar situation. My son has ASD and needs his bag with him and I guess I'm basically worried that this is an upscaling of previous incidents. On the plus side, it's Friday!

[Chewbecca]

DS's school consistently tells us not to bring expensive phones to school and that they cannot accept any responsibility for them so I don't think there's anything to be gained spending time discussing that.

The behaviour & potential bullying though definitely needs dealing with, I'd keep focussed on that.

[specialsubject]

The bullying is the main issue, get on the case of that!!

There is no point taking a big fragile expensive phone to school when he isn't allowed to use it! If he needs contact, buy a £10 call and text job. Only needs charging weekly, far less aggro.

[User006point5]

Re phones in school bags, rather than the bullying issue, my DD cracked her screen this way. This wasn't because she dropped it, but she thinks because a heavy book sadly must have banged the screen awkwardly when she was carrying it. So that might have happened with your son's phone.

[SleepingCitySidewalk]

Well in practical terms, can a recommend a Griffin or Otterbox case for the phone? Pricey but withstand my DCs' treatment of their phones. Although as PP said, a better alternative is a £10 brick. I'd also make sure he has a passcode set up so it can't be accessed if nicked.

Sorry about the bullying, it's hard, especially with SN involved. Hope you get it sorted. Is the SENCO good, I've found them a good way of getting info to all the teachers which can be an issue at high school. Fingers crossed for you and your DS.

[swingofthings]

Maybe it got broken as he dropped -threw- the bag a bit too hardously. Maybe it got kicked because he dropped - threw- it not out of the way. Maybe, someone stepped on it and almost fell. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Nothing you can do to disprove all those maybes.

[corythatwas]

Was the bag left on the floor of the corridor/entrance? Or in a safe place? If the former, then I don't see how he could expect it to be safe there: anyone could trip and tread on it by accident. Both mine have broken screens in far less hazardous ways than that.

Address any bullying that can be proven to be bullying. But only that.

[SequinsandStilettos]

YES THIS IS A ZOMBIE but the same thing has happened to mine this week.
Daughter has a phone - £85 to replace, but that is a lot to us. School policy is that they have to be switched off and kept in bag at all times.
Her bag was taken by another pupil and thrown down the hill on the yard. Phone is now cracked with pixel lines across that are worsening, and yes, it did have a cover on it, and was placed in an inside pocket of the bag.
No insurance, work in a school so am pretty sure response will be owner's risk.
Suspect will get nowhere with the other pupil's mother, even if I were to contact.
The kid was not particularly apologetic or bothered when told today. I guess the head of year would reprimand them if asked, but that won't bring the phone back from the dead and my teen would be accused of snitching. Am sad for her, she has the phone to let me know all is well with reaching her wrap around care as I am still at work when she finishes.
If you are still around, OP, did you bother mentioning it to the school?

[cansu]

It is clearly not safe to leave his phone outside a hall unattended. He either leaves it at home or in a locker or he has a cheap brick for school. I can't see why the school should be responsible. Unless they have cctv what can they do?

[Oblomov22]

Email HoY re bullying this weekend.

I still can't grasp how kicking a bag would result in smashed screen?

[Blanketpolicy]

Use your insurance for the phone. You have no idea how the phone was broken, your ds will know more than you think and his story does not sound entirely plausible. I know of a few of stories ds's friends have told their parents after expensive tech has been broken to shift blame to avoid consequences, or get an upgrade/replacement.

Speak to the school about the bullying but leave the phone out of it if it is not clear what happened.

[Dacadactyl]

The school will do precisely nothing.

I wouldn't be getting my child a new phone either.

[rachel38]

Hi SequinsandStilettos, it's galling isn't it, when you instil in your own kids to show respect for others and their property, but others seem not to.

The best practical advice was from Sleepingcitysidewalk and I bought an otterbox case for his phone.

More importantly, I did speak to school, who were very helpful in terms of addressing the bullying that this incident did form a part of, and we had no further repeats. These were early secondary days for us after a pretty dire primary school, but that's a whole different story!
Obviously, I never expected school to replace a phone - that wasn't what I had originally asked, it was more concerning expectations of behaviour. I'm a former teacher myself and always had a strong code of behaviour for my pupils to follow.

I would speak to your daughter's school. Make some notes beforehand to keep the conversation on point. If it is part of a continuing pattern, if it were me, I'd be requesting a meeting with Head of Year, or whoever the contact person is. It's highly unlikely they'll reimburse for the phone - it's an expensive learning curve I'm afraid, but if your daughter is being bullied, you need to stop it. Get a sturdy phone case and screen protector - we also made our son put his in a slightly padded bag for extra protection. Focus on the behaviour that's going on, not the phone. Hope that helps.

Good luck x

[twintek]

What about kids who need to contact their parents?