Would you pay for the child's coat?

jellyhead

toshkininny wrote: »

I read it as the two boys had the hoop first and the other boy took it and they wanted it back?

So did I - but perhaps the other boy's mum sees it the same way as littleoldme, and views it as bullying?

Without staff present it would be difficult to say, unless the boys all had the same story.

MrsE we have such differing opinions about coats - possibly because you have a girl

Q7_st

We often buy our DD expensive clothes (Juicy, Chloe, D&G) as luckily we can afford them. If they got damaged accidently by another child I wouldn't expect their parents to pay for a replacement. We chose to pay that much and we know the potential consequences.

When I got my bonus I bought my DD some Chloe jeans- some parents could feed their family for 2 weeks for how much they cost. I wouldn't have the heart to ask for that sort of money. If the child had done it purposely then that's a different story!

shirlgirl2004

I have 2 sons and 2 daughters. My sons never came home with torn coats. Yes knees out of the trousers was very common but no other clothes were torn. Dragging a child around the playground for any reason is disgusting and TBH I think the OP is lucky that the boys have not been punished more. I would pay half the cost of the coat. To me £55 for a coat is not wildy expensive. I spent more on my eldest DDs coat this winter and yes she has worn it to school on non uniform day. It did come home in the same condition it went to school though.

MrsE_2

jellyhead wrote: »

MrsE we have such differing opinions about coats - possibly because you have a girl

I think you could be right there.

spinning_hamster_wheel

MrsE wrote: »

No TKmax 15 years ago, just Panache.
I still think to pay for a repair is reasonable (I personally wouldn't have asked, but this mother has).

My point was why should the "repayment" for the boys' supposed bad behaviour depend on how much the parents wish to spend on a coat? Surely if they were behaving in a malicious manner it doesn't matter if the coat cost £5 or £55. Why should other parents have to pay for another family's choices? I totally agree everyone is entitled to spend what they are comfortable with but this choice should not be inflicted upon anyone else.

I agree paying for REPAIR is probably the way to go, a local seamstress in my area would be £5-7 no idea about the rest of the country, and this doesn't depend on how much the garment originally cost!

Poppy9

As the school has contacted you and made it their business I would ask to meet with the other mothers and the boys involved on school premises. You should request that the damaged coat is brought into school and that the Head or Deputy is present at the meeting.

The boys should apologise for the damage caused and when you see the extent of the damage decide on the best course of action.

If the coat is repairable the the cost should be split equally between the two boys. If it's irrepariable then I wouldn't offer to compensate more than £20 as an adequate school coat can be purchased for this.

The fact the mother chose to send her son to school in an expensive jacket is her business. He has presumably worn it all winter and with spring approaching will only need a replacement jacket for a short period. If she had bought it to last two years by buying big that is the risk she took.

Personally I wouldn't spend £55 on a jacket for DD and especially not for school. This is my personal opinion as she is an only child and I have no one to hand it down to and I always buy her a "school coat" and a coat for out of school.

The problem I do see though is that the mother of the dodgy coat will make the damage worst to justify her position and make it irreparable. This is why I would agree a limit.

Can't say DD, who is now 14,ever came home with any ripped uniform but then she is a girly girl and didn't play roughly. A bit of boisterous play in her bedroom (oh that sounds rude:o ) with a friend a few years ago did break her vertical blinds. The girl was horrified as she did a swiping motion and caught the bottom of the blinds and one part of the beady string snapped. I did ask them to take more care but wasn't annoyed as it was an accident. I didn't replace the blinds as it didn't interfere with them working.

Nicki

I think Poppy's suggestion is sensible, and my only caveat would be that when you see the coat, and the make, I would check online to see whether you can get a feel for how much the coat did cost in the first place. If its a George or Cherokee coat for example, rather than a genuine £55er I wouldn't be offering to stump up half of £20 to replace it!

For those who are recommending that OP should replace the coat at its full value, can I remind you that OP has said that she is on a very low income and that it would effectively be a choice between paying for the coat and feeding her family for a week! However badly her son behaved (if he did) and however much the other mum paid for a school coat, the offence does not merit payment of the whole of the family's food and disposable income budget for a week!

lolababy

Hi as it happened on school premises ask the head about insurance. Sometimes they will pay out if clothes get damaged or lost at school.
. . Id offer a token payment and apology. Children pull each other about in the act of play and you can not expect clothing to remain in perfect condition. Get together with the other mum and decide what to do then approach the mother.

Spendless

The school did replace my son's coat when he was in yr 2, but that was because he was being bullied by a few other boys who were grabbing him from behind because they recognised him from his distinctive coat (not expensive one just hand me down from a friend, so few years old and no one else had one same). I decided to stop this little game by buying an official school coat so that he couldn't be recognised from behind. The 1st day he wore it, the head met me at the door at 3.30 to say it had had hood pulled off, by a gang of boys all pulling my son, when I told her my reasons for buying it and that it was new that day-she replaced it (no idea if she asked other parents to meet the cost).

I suppose if it was me, I'd want to know more about the incident before deciding, what to do.

ailuro2

I'd offer to repair the jacket myself.;)

Bet it's got the remainder of a George at Asda label where she has cut it out.:p