12 yr old son broke big screen tv- WWYD? - Page 2

[menudo]

I am hearing about so many tv's broken due to Wii's..and my Mom got DS one for Christmas... Uh oh.

[sporty]

[QUOTE=Bellejar;9644727]

Originally Posted by Dana Hoffman

Do you or the other family have home owner's insurance? That covers accidents like this. Then you and your son would only have to cover the deductable...


Their insurance premiums would go up if they filed a claim. I would feel bad asking.

Yeah that.

[Marsupialmom]

I would make him pay for it but that is it. I would also help him understand a few adults have made the same mistake. Did these Wii remotes have the strap on them. If not then it is partially their fault.

[PancakeGoddess]

The strap has to be adjusted snugly around the wrist to work at all. Personally I think they should have a velcro wrist strap. OP, I think having him help pay it off but not removing the games is good, as others have mentioned.

Fellow mom of 4 boys and wii owner,
Amy

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by mamahart

I would take his savings to help pay and get him to earn money at home and probably not take away the video games but give strict time limit????

I agree.

Video games aren't played in our house often at all, maybe 1-2x per year. But when they are they aren't played for long, always a time limit.

Did your son throw the controller at the t.v. on purpose? If not, then how one earth did a small controller damage a t.v. that big without any force being put behind it? That seems odd to me. I have a 12 yr old and at that age they are usually a little more responsible than that. I could see my 5 yr old causing damage like that but not my almost teen son.

[UnschoolnMa]

The wii games are very interactive and require big sweeping player gestures for game play. The controller has gone flying in many cases with players young and old from what I hear.

[Mama Dragon]

Those Wiis are dangerous I wouldn't punish him at all, just have him help pay, extra chores for a couple weeks to pay you back or something.

[mamalisa]

When dd was learning how to walk she got hit in the head with the stupid Wii controller more times than I care to admit. I think you've come up with a fair solution, helping to pay for it.

[GooeyRN]

It was obviously an accident. He did not mean to break the tv. I would have him do extra jobs around the house to help pay for it, and I would take his money from savings. That would teach accountability, even if it was an accident. If we run a red light and cause an accident, we have to pay the damages to any other car(s) involved, even if we didn't mean it. However, I would NOT restrict his gaming since it was an accident, and not intentional. If we purposly threw the controller at the tv, that would be a totally different story. We generally do not loose our drivers licenses for first infractions that were not intentional (intentional being a dui or severe speeding) or whatever.

[Sage_SS]

I agree with him paying for the repair. And most of whats been said so far.
Its for this exact reason that we hooked our Wii up to our old TV, set up in the play room. Its a system that was designed to get people off the couch.. why would it make sense to put this in a livingroom? Would you put a ping pong table in your livingroom?
It think because it is a video game system, most people don't think much about it, but its a different kind of gaming system, therefore requires a different kind of area to be played in.
Accidents happen all the time, no one is to blame, but lessons are to be learned.

[Blu Razzberri]

I second the insurance coverage idea.

I'm a little upset at your original post and how you didn't mention it was an accident. : If I hadn't read more of the thread, I wouldn't have known that. Suggesting solutions for an accident is far different than suggesting solutions for something he did purposely.

The Wii is a known disaster (I don't have a Wii, OR cable TV, and I know about it!!). The odds are pretty good that your relatives (the one with the broken TV) already knew about that. Did their remote have a strap? If not, why havn't they followed through with the recall (issued by Nintendo) and gotten one? If it did have a strap, you need to write to Nintendo about it still being a problem.

The other thing is -- half the cost of a broken big screen TV is overwhelming for ME; I can't imagine you making your 12 year old cover half of that!! Maybe $100/$200...but you're talkin' like $500, maybe more!! That's going to take him a very long time to come up with!!!

[ediesmom]

hate to be a bugger, but where is the homeowners responsibility? To not have them claim it because their premiums will go up is outrageous. That is why they have insurance, so when teenegers come over and play games with a known history of just this type of accident in front of their oversized television and the accident DOES happen, then they can get their money back. Split the deductable. Sorry, but your relative knew the risk. I think its HIS lesson to learn.

Your son sounds like a wonderful, stand-up young person who doesn't deserve to be screwed because of a premium increase.

sorry, but its a bit disturbing that the relative is so, well.................

[gassadi]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

hate to be a bugger, but where is the homeowners responsibility? To not have them claim it because their premiums will go up is outrageous. That is why they have insurance, so when teenegers come over and play games with a known history of just this type of accident in front of their oversized television and the accident DOES happen, then they can get their money back. Split the deductable. Sorry, but your relative knew the risk. I think its HIS lesson to learn.

Your son sounds like a wonderful, stand-up young person who doesn't deserve to be screwed because of a premium increase.

sorry, but its a bit disturbing that the relative is so, well.................

:

[onelilguysmommy]

didnt read all of the replies...but did they have the replacement strap for the controller? they had this happening and had a replacement thing.. i was going to say maybe it wasnt his fault at all. not that i think it was, but i mean so maybe he wouldnt ne thinking "if i hadnt swung it as hard" or something, kwim?


i dont know what i would do, though because wow, a 60" tv is expensive!! yikes!

[Oonah]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

hate to be a bugger, but where is the homeowners responsibility? To not have them claim it because their premiums will go up is outrageous. That is why they have insurance, so when teenegers come over and play games with a known history of just this type of accident in front of their oversized television and the accident DOES happen, then they can get their money back. Split the deductable. Sorry, but your relative knew the risk. I think its HIS lesson to learn.

Your son sounds like a wonderful, stand-up young person who doesn't deserve to be screwed because of a premium increase.

sorry, but its a bit disturbing that the relative is so, well.................

I don't see where anyone is getting screwed here.....
if it were my tv accidentally broken in this situation I would not ask the child and his family to foot the entire repair bill
BUT
no way would I submit a claim for that and risk increased rates and possible non renewal if I had a more serious claim (sorry I don't consider a broken tv serious). My neighbor was dropped after two relatively small claims....and being dropped is the kiss of death....no way would I risk it or ask anyone else to. Claims stay on your record for 5-7 years I think....just like a credit report and it follows you...other insurance companies will know your claims.

[ediesmom]

I am standing by the 'known risk' statement, however unpopular. If the owner of the ginormous tv doesn't want it to fall under his insurance, he should reduce the risk involved.

Knowing he has insurance, if I were the OP, I would ask his deductible and offer to have my son pay for his half (?) of the responsibility. Whether the relative claims it or not.

I do want to say again how impressed I am with the maturity of this young person. OP, you have obviously raised a wonderful person.

[Novella]

[QUOTE=Bellejar;9644727]

Originally Posted by Dana Hoffman

Do you or the other family have home owner's insurance? That covers accidents like this. Then you and your son would only have to cover the deductable...

Their insurance premiums would go up if they filed a claim. I would feel bad asking.

I would just like to underscore the "your" homeowner's insurance. Our policy provides for $2,000 coverage with zero deductible, if we or any of our dependents accidentally damage someone else's property. Yes, we would have a claim on our file and lose our claims-free discount of 15% for 3 or 5 years (can't quite remember). It would be important to calculate how much the increased premiums will cost you over the next several years versus just repairing the TV without a claim (and, as someone else mentioned, considering what would happen if you had a second, unrelated, claim in the next while).

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by xmenmommy

Our 12 yr old ds broke another family member's 60 in big screen tv at a family gathering. He was playing video games w/ his 6 yr old cousin and he hit the screen w/ a game controller.

He feels horrible about it, and we assured him that we understand it was an accident. However, we (his dad and I) need to replace (or repair, depending upon the extent of the damages) the tv immediately and we'll need to find money from savings to try and do this.

This happened last nite and we said we could talk about it after school today, as it was emotional last night when this happened. I think we should have him do extra jobs around our house to help earn money, and he has about $100 in his savings account that he was saving for a gaming system of the same type! We're also thinking that he should stay away from video games on the computer until he's earned enough to replace or repair this relative's tv.

He can still use the computer for school work and email, just not video games. What experiences/ideas can anyone else share?

I think your plan makes sense. You're having the consequence fit the offense as well as possible given that he's 12. I'm glad you're doing that. I don't really have much to add beyond that.

[Bellejar]

Originally Posted by Oonah

I don't see where anyone is getting screwed here.....
if it were my tv accidentally broken in this situation I would not ask the child and his family to foot the entire repair bill
BUT
no way would I submit a claim for that and risk increased rates and possible non renewal if I had a more serious claim (sorry I don't consider a broken tv serious). My neighbor was dropped after two relatively small claims....and being dropped is the kiss of death....no way would I risk it or ask anyone else to. Claims stay on your record for 5-7 years I think....just like a credit report and it follows you...other insurance companies will know your claims.

I had an accident this week, where I put my car in neutral instead of park and it rolled into our garage door. I am not reporting this to my homeowners. It will be about $1300 out of pocket - because I am worried about nonrenewal. Insurance companies suck. No doubt about it.

[Blu Razzberri]

Originally Posted by Meg Murry.

I think your plan makes sense. You're having the consequence fit the offense as well as possible given that he's 12. I'm glad you're doing that. I don't really have much to add beyond that.

: : :

But it was an ACCIDENT....that's why I said it needed to be specified in the original post that it wasn't on purpose. Why punish for something he didn't do on purpose?? He needs to help repair the damage (because accidents happen and it's best for him to be prepared for that possibility in life and figure out what he's going to do about it); but on the same token, the owner of the TV needs to bear more responsability. I think your family is responsible for half the cost; and they're responsible for the rest. Like I said, they had to know about the 'dangers' of the Wii; and they should have acted accordingly.

If he threw something at the TV on purpose; it would be different.