Dc breaking stuff - what do you do?

[Besom]

So dd 12 has broken her laptop screen which she has only had for about 6 months. Before this she broke 2 tablets in the space of a year by dropping them. Accidents happen but this time I'm annoyed because she has been told over and over to put the bloody thing away in its case when not using it. She left it on the end of her bed and knocked it off onto the flloor.

She needs it for school work and we don't have another in the house. I have a tablet so she will just steal that now which is a pain.

What do you do? How do you get them to be more careful? If I get her a new one or get it fixed I've told her she will have to buy it herself if she breaks it again. Or she can borrow mine for homework but that's it.

I would get it fixed if she needs it for homework but expect her to pay, either by reducing pocket money or by doing extra chores.

I'd also make it clear that this is the last time any broken screens get fixed or items replaced.

She borrows yours for homework, to be returned immediately and if she wants hers fixed/replaced she saves up herself.

How did she break it?

Does it need to be a laptop or would a desktop be a safer option? That’s no help now.

Depending on how she broke it (how careless she was)you could consider making her pay for it or partly pay for it worth pocket money or earning money with extra chores.

You could also have a rule that she doesn’t move it. Get a laptop stand and a keyboard and she’s not to move it. It’ll cost you about £40.

I would pay the first time to repair it, but after that, she should pay or contribute.
My DD uses my fancy iPad for digital art but I have found it balanced precariously to charge (because she can't be bothered to get off the sofa to put it somewhere safe) and I have warned her if I find it somewhere unsafe again she will lose access to it for a week. If it gets damaged she's paying for the repair!

Teens are v clumsy - part of growing bodies

However I don't allow laptops/ iPads in bedrooms. I've always been very strict about it so it lessens the risk. Phone screens get cracked and I pay to replace them.

You lend the money for the repair and she pays you back in pocket money /jobs or from savings. Until the money is paid back the laptop lives on the dining room table and is used only for school work.

Either she earns the money to pay back through chores/jobs or borrows yours strictly for work and nothing else, and learns to be without as a result of it breaking.

My DD broke her phone screen and had to live with a half working phone for a long while, I had already got it fixed once. Eventually she saved a little pocket money and I ordered an eBay screen and fixed myself which was a temporary and not full fix. She’s had a new phone but had to wait a long while and has been told if it gets broken she will get a basic phone as a replacement until she saves to fix it herself. So far she’s looked after it.

To say the first phone had a bug case on it she kept removing which is how it got broken as she prefered it without a case. This time she’s been told if she removes the case and it gets broken then that’s her problem.

I would expect her to either pay for repair or pay you back from pocket money or extra chores.

I would let her borrow mine but only for school work and to be returned as soon she had finished it.?