Real Life MMD: My son broke boy's glasses - should I pay?

Plumjam

This happened to my son last year. I called the head teacher and said I wasn't happy that glasses I'd paid £60 for were broken. She told me to order a new pair and to send her the bill - the school has insurance and that's what it's there for (her words, not mine).

spelter

Missb wrote: »

i'm a teacher...you should not pay; would you expect someone to pay if you child ripped their trouser knee? no i think not....also many children get them replaced etc on nhs for free!! :money:

Heaven help us! You're a teacher??? Your punctuation and spelling is appalling! What chance have our children got?

Seakay

I find a few aspects of this puzzling;

your child play fights
the other child's older brother bullies

the other child admitted (to whom? why was he being interrogated?) that the glasses where old.
Old in whose opinion? and relative to what?
A child may think two months is a long time, I doubt his parents will!

Have you been in direct contact with the parents or do you intend to carry out negotiations through your children? If the latter then expect more misinterpretation, antagonism and a school that will rapidly become annoyed at having to referee.

Get in touch with the other parents and sort it out between you. You are supposed to be the adults so make a decision. I suspect that you think you ought to pay something or you wouldn't be considering the question.

Seakay

Missb wrote: »

i'm a teacher...you should not pay; would you expect someone to pay if you child ripped their trouser knee? no i think not....also many children get them replaced etc on nhs for free!! :money:

A teacher of what?

Please tell me that it does not involve any written work.

tallgirld

Yes I would pay it. I would also approach the boy who was bullying my son. I would let him know that if he bullies my son again I will come back down the school and knock him out!!!

SuzySF

No, dont pay. a. childrens glasses are free and b. the glasses would (should) not be any older than 12 months, as children who wear glasses get a free eye test yearly. I would also tell the school this, and report the bullying of your son. The only proviso to the free glasses is if they were Designer Frames. which are paid for.
Personally I think they are trying to pull a fast one !

Stressed_working_Mum

My daughter has astigmatism and has been wearing glasses since she was 3. For the early years she wore free glasses, but she is now 12 and the choice for girls in free glasses is appalling. We made a decision to buy her glasses that were more stylish and she loved them. She went to a swimming party a week later; the Mum in charge tidied all the clothes up and put the glasses from my daughters usual safe place (her shoes - works for me too!) into a bag. The glasses ended up broken and she refused to pay for them.

My daughter looks after glasses and yet when someone else broke them, we had to pay for them. When I suggested to the Mum that it was actually her fault, she objected and then said that my daughter would not be invited to any other parties.

Please don't assume that everyone gets glasses for free, because they don't. If someone broke your childs mobile phone, you would expect them to pay for it and they are a luxury item, not an essential one!

cannotfindausername

Hi there, both of my children wear glasses and we too have encountered instances where their glasses have been broken at school. We always take them back and our chosen opticians always get them replaced. The only time we have come up against any opposition was when their eye test was very close and they refused to fix them incase their prescription would change or something (When they were having their tests at the hospital)...
I would be taking myself off to the opticians to find out the protocol for glasses replacement (I would also let the parents know that this is what you are doing). I would also be contacting the school to find out all of the details regarding this incident, (as a teacher) I realise these things happen but i would want to know all of the details to ensure it doesn't happen again.
xx

nickyd105

no i wouldnt pay if you are i the uk, as they are free.
2 things happened last week to me, my wing mirror came off, my mate tryed to push it back on, but she dropped it and it smashed, then 2 days later my daughters friend went on my daughters bike, dropped the bike on the floor in temper as it was to big for her and wasnt happy and the mud guard snapped off.
so i had to pay out of my own money for 2 things that broke and were not my fault, i would not of dreamed of telling either of them to pay up. but i still wasnt happy, bbut i got over it!

GemmaA_2

clouds21 wrote: »

Disregarding the potential option of Specsavers replacing a complete of set spectacles, frames and glasses for free (lucky them, however, I don't believe it's quite that easy...)

I too work for this company and it really is true! Under 16s will get a replacement pair of glasses, and lenses if they are damaged, free. The only reason I can think why they are costing £50 to replace is that the may be a designer pair with an anti reflection coating. As far as the dilemma goes, I think you should pay half as it was also your child involved, but ask for a copy of the receipt with a breakdown before handing over any money.

And talk to the school about the bullying problem.