Would you kick up a fuss?

[Milims]

My son came home tonight with his glasses broken. It seems that on the way from one part of the school to another (it's on 2 sites) he was lept on by an older boy (Yr 11 so about 16), playing the latest game called Rodeo apparently, and in the process the leg of his glasses was snapped irrepariably. So I've had to ask a friend to take us to the station, catch a train to the opticians he's registered at, pay extra for the one hour service as he needs his glasses all the time and we live too far away to pick them up tomorrow, pay for a meal as we had to leave before tea was ready and ask my friend to pick us up at the station to bring us home. It's cost in the region of £30 for this trip and he's missed going to Air Cadettets - something important to him as he wants to follow it up as a career and caused a great deal of inconvenience to a number of people. I did report it to the school as soon as he came in but I feel that we should at least try to claim the cost of the evening as he was in the care of the school at the time.
What do you all think?
I'm really cross about it.

[mrsmiggins]

That's such a shame that's happened, I hope he isn't upset. You did the right thing by reporting it, but personally I would leave it now. Just because I find it better to move on, and also I wouldn't want to cause any embarrassment for my child (if it was me).

[Urban Ayisha]

maddening! did u have to pay for the repair? things get broken at school, thats the way things are, so although it sounds like the older boy was quite brutal, its kind of to be expected. glasses are expensive though, and if u did have to pay for that i would definitely follow it up! what a little rascal! poor you.

[Milims]

If it was something like stationary of even school uniform I wouldn't mind so much - but his glasses are really important - without them he cannot function (he can't even hit the toilet!) I know also that kids mess about and accident happen, but I do think that the school needs to stamp on this sharpish before there's even worse damage or even someone is really hurt. Sadly I think, having worked at the school, that they are likely to brush it under the carpet unless I stomp and hit them where they'll feel it! And quite frankly I can't afford for this kind of thing to happen!

[Rosendula]

I know it's frustrating, and I have often thought there should be some way to claim back for things like this, but there are so many kids in school it would have to be a bottomless pot. If the Rodeo game is stopped, kids will just make up another game to play that is just as, if not more dangerous. I always hated winter at school because when it snowed, the lads would throw snowballs. Doesn't sound too bad, but at our school the snowballs always had something in the middle like a sharp bit of thick ice or a stone. Can I ask, would you have felt the same if it had happened in the park instead of school? Personally, I would let this one go for the reasons mrsmiggins stated.

[Helsbells]

Could you get the boy in questions parents to pay for it?

[Silver Ether]

Well I doubt you will get any cash back even from the parents but you could try them... but I would be at the school like a flash to get this game stopped ... it could have hurt him far more than broken specs which is bad enough... could have damaged his back, pushed him over, what if he had been by a road and got pushed into the road!!!!

one of the kids at our school waiting to get into school got pushed in the back by a bigger one down he went banging his head on the ground dizzy turns, distressed, lump on his head and mum called for.. all because of stupid pushing.

[grahoom]

how very annoying!

wouldn't some gaffer tape have fixed them as a temporary measure until it was more convenient to get them fixed properly? I was for ever breaking my glasses at school... and tape seemed to be the preferred method my parents employed to fix them!

The craze when I was at school was SPAM and Nuggets . SPAM being slapped on the forehead and nuggets being wrapped on the top of the head by someone using their knuckles... boisterous antics seems the norm when it comes to teenagers.

[Rosendula]

Oooh I've just remembered Raps Where you played a card game and the loser got rapped on the knuckles with the cards. The kids used to stagger the edge of the pack into like steps, and rap with that edge. The losers could sometimes come away covered in blood.

[grahoom]

Oooh I've just remembered Raps Where you played a card game and the loser got rapped on the knuckles with the cards. The kids used to stagger the edge of the pack into like steps, and rap with that edge. The losers could sometimes come away covered in blood.

Ah yes, I recall that game, and another game we played that involved a plastic or steel rule on the top of your at stretched hand, and the other player had to grab the rule and then try to hit your hand before you moved it out of the way....

[Green Aura]

I know how horrible teenagers can be. And I can understand your desire to make sure it, or worse, doesn't happen again.

I'm not sure going for compensation would achieve this - they'd just draw on the LEA's (or whatever they're called this week) insurance and nothing would change.

I wonder if this boy's action was intended to harm, or just accidental damage caused during a common and widely enjoyed game. I'm totally out of touch with these things so wouldn't know.

If you're really concerned that this is a dangerous game, or worse some form of bullying, then I suggest you write to the school governors and ask what they propose to do to stop such shenanigans.

But talk to your lad first - he'll have to carry on attending the school after all this is done. And you need to make sure your actions weren't done out of anger - a bit of tape til the weekend and then a bus into town may have been a far cheaper option. Plus he would have got to show off his "war wounds".

[TheGoodEarth]

Sounds like a genuine accident and to reply to your original question - no I wouldn't kick up a fuss but I do understand your anger.

On the subject of school games we had one where you would grab someones nipple (boys only) and twist it and ask them to whistle for the queen. The person would only be released after a perfect whistle. No whistle = more twist. God that was painful. But also very funny.

[Milims]

The thing is if it was a prosthetic limb or a hearing aid that was damaged then the school would readily take action - but these are sees as "only" glasses. However, they are as essential as a hearing aid etc to my son so they had to be dealt with immediately. We lost 6 hours of our family time, we had to inconvenience friends and we had to pay out money we could ill afford, but just because it's glasses it's not seen as that important.

[Helsbells]

I think the best thing to do would be to contact the school about what has happened but tell them that you want to boys parents to pay up. The school should be able to co-ordinate communication with the boys parents. They may see it as petty but they cant ignore you and should do as you ask. I am a teacher in a secondary school and although I havent dealt with an incident like this, I feel this would be the best thing to do.
The boy might think again about doing it to someone else if his parents have had to fork out. Also its not like it was hundreds of pounds (although abviousely not a small amount to you) so they should pay up to avoid further hassle.

[TheGoodEarth]

How much was the new pair of glasses? Can you claim on your home insurance?