Real-life MMD: Should friend cough up for broken iPhone?

auntie_sal

Don't thirteen year old boys act a bit boisterousley and irresposibley these days? It's only natural, my son at that age was going through the knees of his trousers every week so goodness knows what would have happened to an i phone or anything else valuable if there had been such things. So I think the boy who pushed him should get a telling off by his parents for acting irresponsibley, and the boy who lost his i phone should learn that expensive gadgets need to be taken care of and maybe should be left at home when out with his friends. As for his mother may be she has learnt something too.

marich

Given that this is actually the child's problem , I would be inclined to do nothing and let him learn by it .

1 - Choose your mates more carefully .
2- Don't muck about on riverbanks .
3- Don't have things that are just too precious .
4- Know when to let things go .

It's a shame for the lad , but then...much worse could have happened that day !

urbanlegend11

I think he may be after the iphone 5

wiserowl_2

Hi, it would be worth making a Genius Bar appointment in nearest Apple shop as Apple will replace iphones in warranty period free of charge in most cases, though I'm not sure of policy if water-damaged. If out of warranty it's a standard fee of £129 approx. I don't think you can expect a 13 year old ( or parents) to pay for this, unless they are particularly rich.

dianevclayton

Yes, his friend should certainly pay up! what if your son's life had been in danger? Kids, no matter what age should take responsibility for their actions. Perhaps they would then make better adults. Who would want a friend that would do thay anyway? Not me! I agree totally with Ronangel. And if kids are going to muck about, let him have a cheap phone next time because at that age, they really only need it as a lifeline. Too many youngsters have their heads buried in these gizmos and lose the art of conversation.

nczm

Assuming this was simply two children playing and messing about I don't think the fact your kids got pushed in the river is an issue, if this was bullying then good luck with talking to the parents!

I think there's a life lesson in here somewhere... your child saved up for two years to buy an expensive phone but clearly no one investigated insurance for water damage and if your child wanted it so much he would never have taken it near a river or would have saved up for one of those plastic bags which keep them dry at the beach.

As a parent you should buy your kids a new phone (bog standard, £10 style) so you can keep in contact with them and let them learn that in life things happen and you make do!

We've got to start teaching our youth financial responsibility and accountability, so what if it's not their "fault"

siani70

I feel very sorry for the boy with the drowned phone (and his mum) BUT as the mother of a 13 year old boy myself, I think he's just going to have to learn a hard lesson. My son and his friends are constantly pushing, shoving, wrestling, play fighting, jumping on things, jumping off things, performing death defying stunts on trampolines, climbing out of windows, etc, etc. All of this behaviour is hazardous to expensive gadgets.

My son has an expensive iPod, bought with his own savings. I keep a close eye on it and he's not allowed to have it when he's "playing out". If he sneaked it out and it got wrecked or lost, I would be upset for his sake but wouldn't expect any of his mates to pay up for any damage caused. It's just as likely that my son would damage something of theirs. And as somebody else has said, where would the other lad get the money?

As for phones, a cheap PAYG or a free phone on a fixed contract does the job. I wouldn't even trust myself with an iPhone!

koru

Slight digression, and probably too late in this case, but you can often rescue a phone that has been dunked if you dry off the outside and then put it in a sealed container with a lot of uncooked rice and put it somewhere warm (but not hot). The rice draws out the moisture. This works better if you can take out the battery, which unfortunately you can't with an iPhone.

HappyTorty

Can I firstly say to some of you that the 'mother' has no lesson to learn as the boy bought it himself! So please correct those comments.

Would you pay for the friend's phone if your son had pushed him in the river? I would make the friend pay for it if the friend had been using it or had intentionally damaged it. But with regards to the fact they were messing about, I'm really not so sure. May teach him to be more careful perhaps?
No harm in asking I suppose....just make sure you do it diplomatically, no outright demanding, and worded cleverly.

little_miss_spender

Hi there

I think it is a difficult one to be honest and I am not being soft here but I think it depends on the circumstances and only your son and his friend were there who could say exactly what happened.

If your son was pushed in the river by this other boy with malice, because he was not a real friend he was just being nasty and a bully then yes he should pay for the phone and the cleaning of his clothes and anything else you care to mention.

But if they were friends and just messing about then I think they are both to blame firstly by being irresponsible and for messing about by a river bank in the first place.I presume they were messing around and it could have been either boy ending up in the river or both.

So if this is the case and they were both messing around therefore they were both being irresponsible, and as a lesson I would say they both should pay half to replace it. For the simple reason of being irresponsible and putting each other in danger of drowning.

I would suggest this to the other parents that their son pays half with the emphasis not on the phone, but the danger they put themselves in. They may think twice next time about their lives first and how easily a life can be lost and their belongings second so maybe it will teach them to think first about others belongings before they start messing around which should at least bring it home to both of them that if you behave in an irresponsible way then there will be consequences and that neither is solely to blame but that they were equally responsible so they should both pay because as I see it they are both to blame.

well thats my take on the situation anyway kind regards lms;)