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AIBU?

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Original poster

Did I make the right choice to refuse?

45 replies

VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:09

in August I got sent a form from the new secondary school for student chromebooks. it said they will have the same one for the whole of secondary which they keep at home to do there homework on and its loaded up with school software etc.

it also said about costs, if the charger is lost or broken you have to pay £60, if you damage or scratch the screen £120, if you lose or break the chromebook £200.

I did not give my consent, I ticked the box for do not want a chromebook, I do not think its posible that it would last the whole of secondary school without me getting charged for something breaking on it/getting damaged.

Come september and they automatically gave my child a chromebook to bring home without my permission, I took it back after some back and forth and they seemed rather confused why I didnt want my child having it.

3 weeks in and he now has 2 pieces of online homework he cant do because he needs a student Microsoft account which they havn't given me the login for (its on all their Chromebooks, so again confusion about them not understanding I didnt accept the chromebook because I dont want the liability).

should I have just accepted the chromebook? it was secondhard with scratches on it anyway, I looked it up the model before handing it back and they have been on the market 3 years. we have a HP Pavilion laptop with windows10 I bought in January.

so I guess the question is was I being unreasonable to refuse a old chromebook because of all the charges I would have to pay if something happened to it.

I am really feeling like I am the only parent at that school who refused as all he school staff act like he has one and they all seem very confused.

OP posts:
qualitygirl · 25/09/2021 13:10

Why would you refuse it without ensuring you had your own chromebook for him to use. They offer them for a reason!

Brollywasntneededafterall · 25/09/2021 13:11

Ds( who breaks everything) got one during lockdown. It stayed in the dining room the entire duration.. Ds had to work in there
.
Under my beady eye!!
Grin

steff13 · 25/09/2021 13:14

Did they tell you it would be required to do some of the work when you took it back? I would have assumed if they were providing it, it was necessary.

Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:16

@qualitygirl

Why would you refuse it without ensuring you had your own chromebook for him to use. They offer them for a reason!
I have HP pavilion with windows 10 I bought in january. I also have my old Asus laptop with linux on it. I have my acer Iconia tablet. my samsung galaxy tab2 with custom firmware. my son has a small lenovo tablet. theres also an amazon fire kicking about with custom firmware on it. and I have 2 android phones as well (frankly both more powerful then that chromebook and both cost me less then I would be charged for replacing the chromebook)
OP posts:
tigger1001 · 25/09/2021 13:17

If I had a laptop at home my kids could use, I wouldn't have wanted the chrome book either, especially with the charges on it.

Sunshinealligator · 25/09/2021 13:17

The costs and details are the exact same as my child's school.
FWIW I was worried about accepting liability for a chrome book j was certain my child would lose, or break due to carelessness.

DH ended up signing the form.

To be honest, she had a problem with the chrome book, they took it back and it took 8 months for her to receive it back. Was a software issue not caused by her. So it cost us £0.
She said there were children who needed theirs repairing after they'd maliciously damaged them. Which I think is pretty disgusting, but from what DD says they were never charged and the same students semi regularly get new devices provided to them.

Please don't worry about the liability. Accept it and just tell your child to be as careful as possible

MatildaTheCat · 25/09/2021 13:17

You say they sent him home with an old scratched model. Maybe that’s their solution for families who won’t Saigon the form? The students can complete their work without being liable for damage.

A straightforward conversation with the relevant member of staff should clarify this. If this is not the case you need to ask what the solution is.

BlossomingSlowly · 25/09/2021 13:18

I'd have also refused it to be honest. I wouldn't want the liability and would rather they use a laptop we already have.

I used to work in a school and the story sounds familiar. Offer parents/kids something, don't consider that some might not be keen on the idea, then seem stumped when a problem arises. Chat to the school and explain why you refused the chrome book and see if they can provide paper copies of homework, or give your child a login that they can use on your laptop. They should also know that some people do not have WiFi at home, so would struggle to do electronic homework requiring internet, so the chrome book wouldn't be much use to them anyway. I'd expect them to have a homework club or library where children without WiFi can do any necessary electronic homework.

Don't feel too bad, I can see why you said no to the chrome book considering the costs involved if your child was to scratch it or break it.

FindingMeno · 25/09/2021 13:18

I wish our school offered that.

QueenBee52 · 25/09/2021 13:19

We took the chromebook... for the ease of school work...

their desktop/laptop are kept for personal use..

it's been fine

Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:20

@steff13

Did they tell you it would be required to do some of the work when you took it back? I would have assumed if they were providing it, it was necessary.
no they said they had them out because some kinds make excuses about not being able to use the computer etc so they have no excuse.

but as mine is an only child and we have a brand new laptop, its fine to not have it.

the I.T guy knows, but teachers and stuff seem confused and as I said I have not been given his login, he didnt even know he had one no one told him, in the primary school I was emailed his login details and he also had them on a sticker in his school book, so just automatically putting them in a chromebook handed to students as a saved password and not telling them or giving it to them written down is stupid imho.

OP posts:
breakingthebank · 25/09/2021 13:21

I don't know why you sent it back. If you hadn't agreed to pay the charges and they sent a Chromebook home anyway, I'd have just gone with it. If they're anything like my dcs school, there's an in-house IT department that fixes them anyway at no cost

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 25/09/2021 13:21

They absolutely shouldn't be excluding kids from doing their homework if they don't have a chrome book!!
My DS's school have an iPad scheme which includes mandatory insurance. The screen got broken and replaced within a week. I wouldn't take on that responsibility without, YANBU

Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:27

@Sunshinealligator

The costs and details are the exact same as my child's school. FWIW I was worried about accepting liability for a chrome book j was certain my child would lose, or break due to carelessness.

DH ended up signing the form.

To be honest, she had a problem with the chrome book, they took it back and it took 8 months for her to receive it back. Was a software issue not caused by her. So it cost us £0.
She said there were children who needed theirs repairing after they'd maliciously damaged them. Which I think is pretty disgusting, but from what DD says they were never charged and the same students semi regularly get new devices provided to them.

Please don't worry about the liability. Accept it and just tell your child to be as careful as possible

I could buy him a chromebook for £150, £200 for breaking a secondhand one seems mad to me but it was the £60 for the charger that did it, no way would a charger last from 11 to 18, I have had to replace the USB connector on his tablet twice and he gets thru about 3 usb cables a year because he pulls them.

I got the laptop in January because of home schooling during the pandemic, I dont trust that school not to charge, my son is SEN and has a habit of throwing things, being careless etc, behaves like a 5 year old.

OP posts:
Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:33

@MatildaTheCat

You say they sent him home with an old scratched model. Maybe that’s their solution for families who won’t Saigon the form? The students can complete their work without being liable for damage.

A straightforward conversation with the relevant member of staff should clarify this. If this is not the case you need to ask what the solution is.

no they were not aware that I did not sign the form, I told them I dont mind him having it but I will not be liable for it as I did not give my permission for him to have one when I filled out the consent form in august.

and we have a laptop I bought for homework in January blah blah blah

OP posts:
Orangejuicemarathoner · 25/09/2021 13:33

I never understand why any parent agrees to this in the first place. It makes no sense to me. A huge responsibility, they fail as often as they work, and impede learning even when they are up and running. I would have refused.

Flickerofhope · 25/09/2021 13:35

VelvetChairGirl The children also use chrome books in the classroom to complete certain subject/projects, what does your child do then?

sirfredfredgeorge · 25/09/2021 13:37

I'm pretty surprised that you're the only student who doesn't want to use their own known and understood device (personally for accessibility reasons I couldn't accept any chromebook available today) rather than accept what is an expensive deal that you cannot insure against unlike your own device.

You just need the login, you're not unreasonable.

godmum56 · 25/09/2021 13:39

its does make me wonder how much the school pay for chromebooks and chargers and how much they make on the system?

PlanDeRaccordement · 25/09/2021 13:44

YANBU
Our school has a similar iPad and MacBook program but the costs are almost predatory.

ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 25/09/2021 13:45

What does your DS think?

DamnUserName21 · 25/09/2021 13:47

I have ya, OP!
School-issued IPad-bane of my life. I had to replaced the wire (to the USB plug) and cover in first 3 months! I've given up ensuring it's charged for school each day or nagging DD to!
Oh how I wish for the days of pen and paper for homework.:)

Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:47

@BlossomingSlowly

I'd have also refused it to be honest. I wouldn't want the liability and would rather they use a laptop we already have.

I used to work in a school and the story sounds familiar. Offer parents/kids something, don't consider that some might not be keen on the idea, then seem stumped when a problem arises. Chat to the school and explain why you refused the chrome book and see if they can provide paper copies of homework, or give your child a login that they can use on your laptop. They should also know that some people do not have WiFi at home, so would struggle to do electronic homework requiring internet, so the chrome book wouldn't be much use to them anyway. I'd expect them to have a homework club or library where children without WiFi can do any necessary electronic homework.

Don't feel too bad, I can see why you said no to the chrome book considering the costs involved if your child was to scratch it or break it.

I think thats the main problem this school isnt very good with communication at all and you talk to different people all the time whom seem confused and say they have to talk to someone else and get back to you, then dont and you dont know who they are, there are so many of them at this new school its massive, even if they phone you back they all carry mobiles around the school they do everything on and when they call you its always a private number so you have no idea.

the only contact is email, or the main number which leads to a answering machine. or go and queue up to talk to the receptionist in the office who will relay what you say and someone get back to you etc

OP posts:
Peanutsandchilli · 25/09/2021 13:48

If it's a Microsoft account then all you need to do is ask school for the login. It's accessible from your laptop. You shouldn't have to have a Chromebook.

Original poster
VelvetChairGirl · 25/09/2021 13:50

@Flickerofhope

VelvetChairGirl The children also use chrome books in the classroom to complete certain subject/projects, what does your child do then?
as I said we have a HP pavilion laptop I bought in january, its brand new Rysen7 with windows10
OP posts: