To pay school for accidental damage

[Mumofboys2023]

my DS is 14 and today I have received a phone call from his head of year. They have viewed cctv of my DS lining up for class with his form group, another boy (apparently a friend “messing about”) has grabbed DS from behind and in response my DS has grabbed him back, the other child has then kicked out and smashed a glass panel in a door- accidentally. School have put DS in isolation and are asking myself and the other child’s parents to pay for any damage caused. AIBU to to state my son did not kick the door so should not pay for these damages or should I pay as he was involved in the incident? Should school not claim on their insurance?

Hahaha now that’s some escalation, are you a lawyer by chance?

Sounds more like school boys playing rough but somehow you spin as he was “attacked” lol

The other kid started it and the other kid kicked the door and broke the glass.

I would refuse to pay anything until you have been shown the cctv footage so you can ascertain your sons part in it all. Considering he wasn't the one who kicked the glass. That way you can see what happened and whether he played a big part in the door being broken.

I would also be asking how a glass door in a school was fragile enough to break when kicked. Must of been kicked pretty hard surely! Or it was not fit for purpose.

Accidents happen in schools, but I would ask to see the footage, perhaps along with the other parent if they won't show it just to you so you can see what went on.

I would pay half and not place the financial burden for your child messing around onto other taxpayers.

Doesn't the safety glass in schools have the grid running through it? To stop it from leaving big jagged edges, and to stop it falling out entirely and sending shards through the air etc? If so, It's perfectly possible that it could be school appropriate safety glass, but still be broken/damaged by a sharp kick. I don't think safety/reinforced glass means its unbreakable, just that the way it breaks is safer and less likely to hurt the breaker or bystanders.

The boy has admitted he was pissing around.

What is the lesson to DS? That if you piss around and stuff gets broken, mum will argue that you don’t need to pay because getting away with pissing around is more important than finding out that actions have consequences?

Split it between the both of you and teach your child not to get into fights like this. The school should not have to pay or claim on their insurance as this just increases costs for the school or increases the insurance premium. Schools are in financial crisis atm.

I would ask to see the footage of your son causing damage if he did then you pay and he pays you back

Ah - school insurance - I wonder what they might use to pay the premiums? Certainly not enough in their government allocation.

It's really not.

Have a look at the Workplace Safety Regulation 14. Specifically the bit that requires the upgrading of all glazing in critical areas to that of safety glass, including Doors and side panels 1500mm above floor level and 300mm either side of the door

He’s admitted he was dicking about in the corridor. The window wouldn’t have broken if they were both behaving sensibly. Look, it’s what some teenage boys do, but it’s a life lesson, pray about and damage something, you pay for it. Pay half and make him earn back the money to pay you back.

As PPs said insurance wouldn’t cover this.

I can’t believe people are going from two teenagers messing around and breaking a glass panel to a discussion about the type of glass. The boys broke it and should pay for it. What will they learn from this otherwise? No wonder teachers are leaving in droves when everyone excuses poor behaviour.

You should pay half.

I don’t think I said they shouldn’t pay for it, in fact I didn’t comment on that either way if you check my posts I simply expressed surprise that a school building, bound by endless safety regulations, would have a panel of glass low enough to be shattered by a kick.

It’s the school’s fault for having windows.

The other child "kicked " it off, so I wouldn't be paying.

Yes that’s exactly what I said isn’t it 🙄

Just joining in with the people queuing up to try to dodge responsibility.

Workplace safety regulation 14 is similar to the building regulations in requiring that glazing in critical locations is either of safety material or protected against breakage. Safety glass doesn't imply it won't break but that, when broken, it will break in such a way as to not present an excessive hazard - basically because it breaks into pieces which are "small enough" (as defined in the relevant standard).

It might be sensible to use glass which is also difficult to break (no glass is unbreakable) but this glass will cost more and budgets are tight. The minimum requirement is for the glass to break safely.

I must admit I was also thi King those doors don't sound very safe!!

I'd pay only half but it would be coming out of pocket money / extra jobs to pay me back.
It's an accident yes but hopefully will teach to stop silly behaviour.

My nephew slammed a door shut which broke and his parents got a bill. I do think it should happen

See for that I’d expect to pay. As my child would have clearly done something wrong and actually broken it directly from his own actions.

where as ops son only grabbed this boy because he had grabbed him. Then this boy kicked and broke the door. All starts and ends with that one boy to me.

He was grabbed twice. Why should you pay? Totally the other child's fault, friend or not.

Tell school no, and I would be pissed off about him being put in isolation.

He shouldn't have been misbehaving like that in the corridor. His involvement contributed to the damage. Teach him to treat the school environment and others with respect.

I have 14 ds in this situation he would be paying half. He didn't have to grab boy back, I'm constantly telling mine not to get dragged into messing about as causes accidents. Good life lesson

We had a very similar situation, I asked the school what total amount they were looking for from ds and his friend and we paid half. They asked me what I would do if friend did not pay and I responded that the school had said they were equally to blame ds was paying his share so the other half payment was between school and friend and not my responsibility. Friend's parents refused to pay in the end.