To make DS pay for a new PE kit?

[NotThatParanoid]

DS started secondary school in september. I bought him the PE t-shirt, shorts and a pair of astro trainers. Ok it wasn't that expensive (around £20 altogether) but he's only had them since september.
On wednesday he went to school, came home and said he's lost his entire pe kit (left the bag somewhere).
The most annoying bit about it is that the PE kit was still in NEW condition. Not a mark on the trainers etc.

AIBU to make him buy the next one from his own money?

Make sure he has checked everywhere. He needs to check every room he gas been in, ask at reception etc. It is amazing how many of them turn up after a couple of months because they were in the corner of a classroom waiting for someone to collect them!
Make sure he asks all his teachers if they have found it.

It's par for the course. I think you should ask him to contribute a fiver and for the rest see if you can pick up anything second hand. For the record when my ds used to lose kit, very regularly and it was a huge issue at his school, I eventually used to send him to lost property to sort through to find unnamed items to bring home. I guessed that as someone else had his, it hardly unfair to glean someone else's without name tapes.

I give my DS a week to find his kit at school and then I make him pay to replace whatever he's lost out of his own money. I don't care if it's 'par for the course', he needs to learn that there are consequences for losing stuff.

He's always found it so far.

That happened to DD2 when she started secondary school, only her PE top was school issue with logo. I bought her a new one, told her if she 'lost' that one she was buying her own.
3 months later the orginal turned up behind the curtain in the hall, one of her 'friends' had hidden it, so if I was you I would give your Ds the benefit of the doubt and either wait to see if it turns up or tell him you are only replacing the kit once.

They usually find it eventually but their incentive to search for it is heightened if they know they'll have to pay to replace it.

If it takes a few weeks to turn up, what do they wear for PE in the meantime? Won't they get into trouble/detention or something?

Mine lost his school jumper in the changing room and it did turn up some days later but like you say it can take a few days to find its way to the lost property cupboard.

I agree at this age they need to start realising the cost involved. Our PE kit cost £50 so I would be livid about replacing it so soon.

Aaaah I feel sorry for him. I remember doing stupid things like that and being so worried I'd get into trouble and so glad when my mum was nice about it. IT's not like he did it on purpose? Just think how horrible it is in adulthood when you lose things and you don't get them back so have to replace themn yourself? And how grateful you are if they are ever handed in? What if the person who found them decided to teach you a lesson instead?

He's got plenty of time when he's a grown up to learn his lesson. Cut the poor kid some slack. x