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Original poster

All 3 of the DCs new Tablet PCs have now been smashed.......

169 replies

TeenTwinsToddlerandTiaras · 12/01/2013 13:43

I mean ffs can't they make them bloody bounce. One bigtiny fall on wooden floor and they are buggered.

DD's lasted about 3 days until the toddler threw it. DS2's lasted about a week longer until it was sat on and DS1 is now in tears as his has just smashed on the floor when I grabbed it out of his hand cos he was'nt listening to me as usual.

I bought them so they would'nt keep arguing over the laptop. SHIT!

OP posts:
TerraNotSoFirma · 12/01/2013 14:17

gwendoline nope, I haven't. I'm getting glass shards in my fingers until I can afford to replace it :)

I don't think they should be replaced, but I don't think the OP should be getting shit for her children having them in the first place or being told that her children are 'out of control' for each having a simple accident.

Yes, they should be more careful (as should I) but if they have to save for replacement screens maybe they will in future.

cinnamonnut · 12/01/2013 14:18

Sounds really careless - teach them to take care of things.

cozietoesie · 12/01/2013 14:18

TheNebulousBoojum

I seem to remember a media story from within the last week about a school where 50% of the ipads (or laptops) given to students last year were now out of action?

TheNebulousBoojum · 12/01/2013 14:19

Ooh, link please.

Sallyingforth · 12/01/2013 14:19

Accidents happen. However careful you are, occasionally a tablet will be dropped and its very thin, fragile glass will break.
But three breakages since Christmas are not accidents. They are carelessness. The fact that they are all broken shows that your children are not ready for them - whatever their ages may be.
Let them wait until next Christmas, and hopefully by then you will all have learned to be more careful.

TheNebulousBoojum · 12/01/2013 14:19

I wonder if it was a school that let the children take the technology home?

ihearsounds · 12/01/2013 14:20

I've had my ipad mow for 2 years. Even with teens and a toddler on the house it has survived. My toe didn't though when I dropped the ipad and it cracked my tow Sad

Your children aree careless with their things. Yes accidents happen, but to break 3 tablet in the space of 3 weeks by their refusal to use the cases is careless. To break a laptop and bb within a short space of time, is careless. Of course they are not going to look after things because tthey know instant replacements. At their ages, the teens, they should be moree than capable of looking after their things and if they are not then they clearly arent old enough to have gadgets.

LtEveDallas · 12/01/2013 14:21

The OP's children have basically between them trashed £1000 of electrical equipment- which is more than a lot of people have to live on for a month

Nowhere does OP say that Mardy. If all 3 are iPads then yes, you are correct, otherwise it's more like £300 for all 3. I think if the OP had bought iPads she would have said.

OP we have an iPad and 2 iPhones. The first phone was smashed twice - both times by me Blush. As a result I bought hard book type covers for all 3 and they cannot be used without them. If you are going to get them repaired then you need to set some serious ground rules.

If its just the screens that are smashed they are quite easy to repair if you have a geeky friend, or are geeky minded yourself. Do some googling and you will find a YouTube vid I'm sure. Best of luck Smile.

TiaMariaandSpringCleaning · 12/01/2013 14:24

Actually, gorilla glass is not more likely to shatter than normal glass - its both stronger and more flexible than normal glass as well as being more resistant to visable scratches see Gorilla Glass 3 (married to a nerd, unfortunately know far more about these things than is normal or useful! Grin ) That said, if someone sits on it, the display behind the glass is going to get damanged most of the time regardless of what type of glass it is! Wink

TheNebulousBoojum · 12/01/2013 14:24

Only story I could find was from December in NSW Australia.
Theft, poor hinges on the lids and being mugged on the way home with your laptop. That the story?

MikeLitoris · 12/01/2013 14:24

Did I miss that all 3 were Ipads costing hundreds?

You can buy tablets for £50 these days.

I spent more on a couple of items of clothing for ds than I did on dds Nabi.

FanFuckingTastic · 12/01/2013 14:25

The children clearly aren't responsible enough to have this technology if they cannot look after it. I would wait until they are able to appreciate that these things are delicate and require proper care.

Narked · 12/01/2013 14:25

The youngest are 11? That's quite old enough to look after their things - and know that they have to be kept out of the reach of a 2 year old. I'd be furious with them not the tablets and I wouldn't be buying them anything pricey because they're obviously too careless to look after it.

My 4 year old nephew has had fairly unsupervised access to his parents ipads since he was 2, to play games, and he knows to be careful with them! He's never so much as scratched a screen!

zipzap · 12/01/2013 14:26

Were they bought on a credit card? Don't credit cards offer some sort of accidental damage cover on things bought on them for 100 days? Seem to think they might have to be over £100 or the total spent ???

Anyhow, worth investigating if they were bought on cc as would save claiming on insurance and inflating your premiums in the future.

cozietoesie · 12/01/2013 14:27

Here you go, Nebulous.

\link{http://www.yourgadgetguide.net/school-which-spent-12m-on-ipads-for-pupils-admits-half-the-tablets-are-broken/\broken ipads}

There are other references to the story if you have a scoot.

D0oinMeCleanin · 12/01/2013 14:28

They don't sound responsible enough for gadgets to me. Dd2 is only 5 and even she can manage to look after things for longer that.

She has had her DS Lite a year now and there is not a mark on it. She got a laptop for Christmas and is really looking after it, you should see the palavar she has if she wants to move it to a different room. It gets switched off, unplugged, wrapped in it's protective sleeve, strapped into the padded laptop bag she has and only then she will lift it up to carry it and that is done as though she is carrying the most precious thing in the world in her arms.

If only I could teach DH to behave the same....

I would replace the one you broke. The toddler should not have been let to play with the other one and the third one should not have been left on the sofa.

TotallyBS · 12/01/2013 14:28

Grin at your Confused about why your portable gadgets break so easily. Reread your post about your DCs history of gadget abuse. Then ask yourself the question again.

5madthings · 12/01/2013 14:29

Your elder children are old enough to know to be careful with expensive items.

Three tablets, a laptop and a blavkberry is a lot of things to break!!

If they wont use the protective case thry dont get to use the tablet, simple.

Teens can.be a bit forgetful/careless but they need warnings and consequences and i wouldnt be replacing items that were broken through carelessness, tho it sounds like you were partly to blame for one breakage.

There is nothing wrong with children having expensive stuff if they treat it properly, if they cant do that then they lose it.

Arthurfowlersallotment · 12/01/2013 14:32

If you just replace them I suspect they will have a similarly short life span.

If I were you I would tell them if they want new tablets they must earn the cost of them. 52 weekends cleaning the car and mowing the lawn would probably mean they take more care with expensive equipment.

TheNebulousBoojum · 12/01/2013 14:33

Ta cosie, that's perfect! Grin
The school spent HALF A MILLION POUNDS on the technology...

'Honywood Community Science School in Coggeshall, Essex, allowed children to take the device outside the classroom, playground and street and home at evenings and weekends.

It had been warned that allowing pupils to take the expensive tablets out of the classrooms might not have been the best idea in the world because children might not look after them properly.'

So they took them out of class, sat on them, ate MaccyD over them and then played frisbee with the remains. I hope the school has another £500,000 to spare.

Original poster
TeenTwinsToddlerandTiaras · 12/01/2013 14:33

They were not ipads - I am not a nutter Grin.

The total cost of all 3 of them was less than a decent laptop. That's why they got one each. They could connect them to a keyboard and the printer so could do their homework on them as well. I set up email accounts so they call each other names through that rather than face to face Grin bugger off to their rooms and leave me alone.

I think it was bad luck. I don't feel particularly guilty about DS1's as he does walk around with it and ignores me (especially as I've taken them to the cinema and KFC this morning but he still decided not to do the homework he's been told to do 10 times so far) and it drives me nuts so hopefully it will be lesson learnt.

OP posts:
ThalianotFailure · 12/01/2013 14:35

you're hardly teaching then to look after their expensive possesions if you replace them as soon as they break them! Has this always been the way? The older ones should certainly know better had you ever taught them.

TheNebulousBoojum · 12/01/2013 14:36

Oh, instead of teaching the children how to take better care of the stuff, the school just bought tougher cases. That won't help the OP, her children won't use the cases provided anyway, she already said that.

BarredfromhavingStella · 12/01/2013 14:36

3 tablets, a laptop & a blackberry? Clearly your children have no concept on how or why these things need to be looked after & why would they if you just replace them? Hmm

pictish · 12/01/2013 14:40

Hopefully it will be lessoned learnt?

Not likely though is it? Three tablets in as many weeks, is not unlucky, .it's lack of respect and care. It's treating expensive items like they are disposable.

Don't buy your kids any more of these things until they can learn to appreciate the value of them and look after them sufficiently.

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