My question would be how do you know if the computer wasn’t already broken? Was it only one childs fault or both? Depending on how old this child is if it was their fault i feel the child should work to pay it off.
replace it your kid broke it. If he is Uber have to stay over at someone’s house hes old enough to know not to touch their personal things
I’d offer to replace it but that’s just me. My daughter and her friend were playing on my iPad and they did something to make it not work anymore. Nothing could fix it and no water was involved. I learned to never let the kids use iPads when friends are over
Wow, the response of “it’s not my fault they wanted my kid over for the night” is ASTOUNDING! The entitlement!
Yes, offer to replace it! If they decline, cool. But YOUR child who is YOUR responsibility broke someone else’s property…it’s thereby YOUR responsibility to offer to replace it.
How about about split the cost.Adult should have been present to over see incident, your child may have been the one to do the damage…
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Absolutely 100 percent yes, you should be held responsible. Even if it means having your kid do chores or whatever to work off the debt to the friends parents, so be it.
This is why I never let my children spend the night with others I can’t supervise my kid if I am not around .no I would not pay for it
I feel like it depends on exactly how it happened and the age of the child whether or not I would feel responsible.
I’ve never asked any of my kids friends parents to replace anything if it was an accident. And who honestly I don’t have 500+ dollars laying around to pay something like that back so i wouldnt get to mad if it was an accident. If it was on purpose then I would see if we could make an arrangement
Especially if you can’t afford to replace the computer see if you can offer anything else
I agree that the child needs to do work to pay it back. But ultimately, the right thing to do would be to buy them a computer or give them money toward one depending on what you can afford.
That’s a sticky situation. Yes if your child broke something it would fall on you to at least help pay for fixing it.
But they are a guest who was given permission to use said item. The owner of c the item has a responsibility for supervising use to make sure it is being used properly. So I think both adults bear equal responsibility. Accidents happen. As long as the kids wasn’t being a monster and destructive on purpose
FIRST! What is the whole story? His story? And other parents story? And other child’s story? How did it out get broke? What on it got broke? Too much missing from this story!!!
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One thing that sticks out to me is a lot of people saying the child can work to pay off the cost of damage but in the question it also states SMALL child. So my question would be how old is the said child? What happened to lead to it being broken? Where was the adult? If you have a small child over you set rules and boundaries. Clearly this person did not and did not properly supervise the child either. When you have a small child over your taking the risk of something getting damaged to begin with.
I would say yes, it is your responsibility. I don’t know how old your child is but if they are old enough to know better, you should have been teaching them to be careful around expensive stuff or not to touch it things that don’t belong to you.
I of course would want to know all of the circumstances, but I feel morally it is right to at the least pay for 1/2 the cost of replacement, if not the entire amount. I feel it would just be the right thing to do.
I’d want to offer to pay. It may take a few weeks. But I think it’s the right thing to do.
On the other side, I would not ask the other parent to pay. As an adult I would recognize it as part of my risk in entertaining someone else’s child.
I agree half and half. My daughter and her friend were screwing around with her friend’ s iphone. It got knocked out of the child’s and broke. Her friend’s mom was furious at my daughter and wanted the whole $200 from us. I put out a couple of questions like did you have insurance on the phone? Fid you have a screen protector on the phone? Was the phone in a protective case? What was your daughter doing? All answers were no and she claimed her daughter was just sitting minding her own business. I called her out because my daughter does not lie, but this other child has a history of lieing. Long story short, the other child confessed and the mom said they would cover it. I offered to pay half and told her it world take a couple of weeks because I had nothing to my name since my husband had just left. They never took my money, but I did offer.
Ummmm was the other kid playing on it as well?? Where were the adults?? I mean there is a lot of things I would be questioning I’m not parent of the year by any means but if a kid came to my house and broke something while I have them I’m not gonna make the parents pay for it. I should have been watching them better or should have put valuables up in my opinion!!
Your kid broke it you pay for it. My son accidentally broke a window at a friends while sleeping over and I called the contractor and had it replaced as soon as I found out. Thats how you teach your kids responsibility for their actions. He then worked for me to pay it off he was 7 years old.
Ask your child what happened. Are you sure it wasn’t broken before & they need to replace it figuring your child could take the blame. Make sure asking your child that it wasn’t their child who did it. It could be a way for them to get a broken computer replaced they can’t afford. If it was ur child then where where the parents and why was no one watching them. Obviously your child don’t go around breaking things in your house or you wouldn’t let your child go spend the night. Just get facts before freaking out. I know I won’t let my kids stay with parents who don’t supervise.
I don’t think you are fully responsible for it, because you were not there, your child was in the care of other people and ultimately it is their responsibility to pick their valuables up and keep them away from the children, but I would offer to pay half to either replace it or get it fixed.
Personally I would feel responsible doesn’t matter if they ask your child to stay or not your child did break it where there was an accident or not you should at least offer to pay for it and go from there, But that’s just me.
I feel that if someone wanted my kid to stay then they take the risk & responsibility of whatever my child’s aloud to get ahold of in their home cause if i was with my kid then i would do everything i can to keep electronics or expensive itams away from my kid but i also believe if my child was bad/ unruly then id say no they couldnt stay anyway
This is hard because I’m starting to not believe people…because my family was over my in laws for Christmas last year my in laws have custody of my niece an nephew…anyway just last month they told my husband that my son broke a tv in the kids bedroom on Christmas however I know for a fact that the tv was fine when we left…the two children they care for are their favorite grandchildren an they act like those children do no wrong
You break it you buy it. You are responsible for anything your child does no matter where he is.
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Depends. Normally yes, but if a flower vase with water was above the computer and kids were horsing around, and vase tipped over. Someone should have been monitoring the kids and shame on momma.
Kinda hard for a kid to break a computer. What happened. If I may ask
Honestly, situations like this suck. There is no right or wrong answer. Would I expect someone to pay for a computer broken in my house by whichever child did it? Absolutely not. Why? If I wasn’t watching the kids that closely that they could get their hands on or around an expensive electronic device, that’s on me. Computers, whether laptop or not, are expensive. Who has that money to throw down on a he said she said?
No, I wouldn’t expect a guest in my home to pay for a “questionable” mishap. I would mention it to the child’s parent, if they buydidn’t offer to help pay for half at least I don’t think I’d have their kid staying over again
I think it would depend on the situation. Was the other child involved? What was happening when it was broken? Could it have been prevented if the parents were supervising or had an ability to put the item away? We are all responsible for our children, but if another child accidentally broke something at my house, I wouldn’t expect the other parent to pay. Only if it was malicious or on purpose.
You don’t sound like you know what happened . Was it a willful act or of destruction an accident, was the other child involved ?
How ok’d was the system ? All these factor into the situation . NO COURT would ever expect you to buy a bee system ifcyhr computer is 6 years old a percentage is used . They will get the benefit of a new system they should bring willing to upgrade it .
If they are old enough to have a sleepover, they don’t need constant supervision. Furthermore, they should know better and not act like a caged animal in someone’s else’s house.
So to answer your question- yes you should replace it.
I would definitely offer to replace it however if the roles were reversed and I would not accept someone’s offer.
Yes you are responsible for your child’s actions till the time they are able to take responsibility for themselves, that’s why God put them to your care, a cat cares for its kittens, birds for their hatchlings , you for your kids, also it will teach you and your kids about treating things kindly, also they might not accept your compensation( repair/replace) but you must offer
I feel both families are responsible. There is always more to the story that kids don’t tell. This is not saying anyone is lying but everyone has different perspectives of how something happened.
Hi I’m not going to be rude to you.but your right the adults in the house should put stuff up that they don’t want broke.in I know how hard it is to have a child with Autism in ADHD.id never let her go stay over night any where.she has a compulsive behavior in defient. So I’d not trust her to go any where.mom just do what you feel is right.
How did he damage a computer? That’s crazy…kinda sounds like they set you up to replace their crappy computer…I would never ask parents to replace something a kid broke on accident
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Personally, I would feel responsible for something my child broke and offer to repair or replace. There is a certain type of behavior that I expect my child to exhibit when visiting at someone else’s house or in a public establishment.
There are way to many possible narratives to this to honestly answer. I can think of situations on both ends where my answer would be yes or no.
First, I will assume the adults are being truthful. Second child broke it by accident or negligence, his child should bear some responsibility. Please don’t be the parent that thinks their child is perfect and the adult is lying
No. Only bcuz any parent knows that kids break things. Kids touch everything. That’s why medicines and dangerous objects are kept out of reach. Well, if you don’t want it used or destroyed, put it away. Inviting other kids over makes you responsible for them, good or bad! Simple as that!!
I mean, I can see a half and half type of thing. Accidents happen but you weren’t there to help watch your child. The other parent took on the temporary responsibility for watching your child.
What a stupid question… yes, you are responsible. I would just want to make sure my kid did in fact damage it, or destroy it. I wouldn’t want my kid being blamed and being asked to pay for something just because it’s convenient for them to blame my kid.
I would be responsible for my child breaking something. Just because they asked him to spend the night with them, doesn’t give your son the right to break their computer, sorry for your loss but it should be your responsibility.
Absolutely, you should have to replace anything your child damages in anyone else’s home. Surely, you would expect the same courtesy.
Find out what happened.
Honestly, my first step would have been to apologize and offer to pay for it, or at least help.
Yeah you should replace it. Accidents happen. Don’t act like you have never got distracted or went to the bathroom and your kid got into something they shouldn’t have.
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If I asked a child to spend the night at my house and something I didn’t put up got broken, I would not expect the other parents to pay for it. But if my child broke something like that I would feel horrible and at least offer something.
If it happened at my house I would not expect you to pay for it. Especially if I left it out or had a cord exposed that could have been tripped over or something. Now if your kid picked it up and slammed it on the ground then yea, I’d want you to pay for it.
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Yes. If someone else’s child broke your computer you would want them to pay for it. This happened to a close friend and the other family paid half but it was awkward for them for a while.
If you were there with your child … and just visiting… then I’d say yes you are responsible… but sense you wernt and he/she was spending the night. I’d say you are right it’s their responsibility unless your kid set out to do damage/break the item in question
Your child is your responsibility until they are an adult.
Yes you should pay
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I have NEVER had a parent replace anything a child has broken. If I feel a child is reckless and rude but I will not invite that child over again. I think it’s extremely Petty to have a parent replace something that a child has broken kids have accidents its part of learning it’s part of life
I’d offer to pay, at least half
However, if it’s at my house I wouldn’t ask or accept any $
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In this situation, it just sucks to be you. It’s a learning lesson for everyone involved. 1) You’ve learned that your child isn’t ready to be on his/her own without your supervision 2) People that you thought as friends are going to hold you accountable for your child’s actions 3) Now, you’re forced to make lemonade out of lemons and do the hard thing with both parties involved… and finally 4) Everyone on social media is in agreement. Buck up buttercup. You got this 
My daughter was at a sleep over and her and her friend were playing with her friends lap top and it was broken… So we split the cost of the repair…to be fair.
Absolutely, they should not have to even ask. You should have volunteered to pay for it. When I was growing up, if your kid put a baseball through someones window, you paid for it. You did not blame the person for letting your kid play baseball. If your kid is old enough, pay for it and then make him work off the money he owes you for bailing him out. Teach your child to be accountable for his actions.
Wow really? You are responsible for what you’re child does. This kinda attitude is why kids don’t think they should be responsible for what they do.
It depends on the situation, if my child was fully responsible I would replace it, but if it involved my child AND theirs or another child then I would pay for a portion of it. Talk to your child and the parents.
Absolutely your responsibility.
Those parents would not have you paying for something if they knew it was their fault that it was broken.
I’d ask my kid… pay for it… then never speak to them again. I need more information at this point anyway. I’d never demand a parent pay for something their kid broke at my house. I’d let them know they broke it but demanding it be paid for… #cashmeoutside #cashmeoutsidehowboutdat
Personally, I’ve had my friends kids over and we’ve had toys broken and a shed door broken while they were here and I just threw them away and left it alone. I told my kids to use their words better and ask their friends to be nice to the toys and if they aren’t, to tell me so I can remove the toys. My kids and their friends are under the age of 6 and have been hanging out with electronic tablets and computers for 3 years (since they were 3 and 2). My friends’ kids also know that I take toys if they fight over them or break them. That’s the type of responsibility you teach kids, not the type where you pay back something. And to be honest, if the kids were unsupervised and an adult left the electronics out where they could be accidentally broken, that’s on the adult. My kids and my friend’s kids are responsible with electronics and they are super young. So idk what that person is doing with teaching responsibility around electronics 
To me if they ask for the child to stay they should know things can happen so if its valuable they should put it up. Id of course offer to pay for it but i wouldn’t expect someone to pay to replace something at my house if i asked for their child to stay
If you were not present, you are not responsible - If you were present, and visiting, you would be responsible for your child’s actions. If you hand over your child to another adult, that person is responsible for your child’s actions. If you were present, you would have prevented the incident. All these yes answers are only to ridicule you and make you feel bad! Their answers reflect that your son deliberately did this evil act and both you and him should be punished. Don’t accept that!! You said it was done on accident - which whose to say it was even your child that did the damage. My own child knocked my brand new computer onto the floor because I plugged it in across the room which happen to cross his path. I told him to choose another path multiple times before it crashed to the ground. But after it hit, who’s fault?? MINE! I’m the adult!! I should not have chosen that plug, and then realizing it was inevitable, I still didn’t do something… Let’s say, your son was visiting and followed my son as he jumped over the cord, then blamm! Guess what! Still my fault! I can take personal responsibility for my stupidity in leaving it among children.
Can it be fixed? If so, what is the estimate of repairs for the damage. Offer to pay half because it is also on the other parent for giving the permission. When kids play at my house, electronics are not allowed to be played with. This includes video games. If they want to watch TV or put on a movie, I tell my child to do it. I feel that as the adult, you control what goes on in your own home. She is responsible for giving the children permission. I realize that children are not supervised at all times and this is the main reason why I do not allow expensive electronics to be played with in my home. If you are going to give permission for that responsibility, you open yourself up for this happening. It would be generous to offer half of the payment but paying for the whole thing or replacing something entirely, I feel, is not cool.
Personally if my kids friend is over at my house they are my responsibility during that time so no and I set rules and my daughter knows to make sure her expensive items are not toys and should be put in a safe place.
Now if it was intentional I would definitely pay for it but you said it was an accident and the other kids parents were responsible for all children in their home.
I feel like it depends on the age and situation, here’s why - if your kids 5 and the mom had a laptop on the floor during a dance party and the kid fell on it then no, if your kid picked it up and threw it then yes…
I think, yeah parent should pay, that’s why I don’t trust letting my kids spending the night at other peoples house
In my opinion you should not. When someone has your child they’re responsible for them. Now if was done by the child being mischievous then yes. You pay. That’s why I don’t do sleepovers lol I don’t want to be held responsible for someone else’s child.
I’d have to disagree. I didn’t see how old the kids were but it was an accident not an on purpose. I would offer to go half with you the family. Just for my own curiosity I’d like to know how the accident happened. Was their child involved? I would think so but only the kids know. I don’t think the parents have to be on top of the kids at all times, none of us do that especially if they have a friend over. You want them to have fun. Did things get out of hand, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t put the blame on just one child.
After sincerely apologizing, I believe the polite thing to do would be engage the family in a discussion and ASK them to share the details of the event, ask the children too, and come to a joint decision. Too many unknown factors here. Maybe the kids were told NOT to touch the computer…I would say listen first and then speak
No, you’re not obligated. It would be considerate to replace items though.
That being said, I personally don’t have the money to buy someone else a computer. I would be upfront about that as I apologizing profusely for what happened and asking if there might be a way to help make up for it that is not monetary.
Some people will say u are , but personally if he was at my house and had broken my computer I would get it replaced my self and consider it a costly lesson on my behalf and learn from my mistake of not keeping a closer eye on them and have a talk with your child as Welles mine “we both are at fault but … “ ect… just to let him know the value of belongings and that they should be careful and calmer around such things
I’d at least do half. Especially with kids doing virtual learning… Computers are important. You don’t know what happened. Maybe the adult had something going on. I highly doubt you have eyes on your kid 24/7.
But honestly… If you want that kid to continue to be friends with yours, I’d pay
A computer? Most definitely. He should have been more responsible and as the parent you should have offered immediately.
More information please…like were the children on the computer together? Were they allowed to be on it? Was this something that the owners child was allowed to do? You state it was accidental but what was the accident? A spilled beverage? Keys broken from rough pounding?
Can’t really take a position one way or the other without proper information. Although, you state “small children” which makes me lean towards improper supervision.
I cannot even believe this was posted. Common sense. Yes you offer to give $$ to have it fixed.
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Yep. But make tour child work of that debt with you by doing chores. Your responsible for everything your kid says and does anywhere till they are 18. 19 in some states.
I think it depends on the age and situation. If the kids were playing together and it got broken then the cost should be split and the kids work it off if it’s age appropriate
I was taught that if your kid breaks something it is your responsibility to fix or replace it.
I have an entire non child friendly home…we have knives and crap all over on display, my son knows not to touch and never really has, I don’t adjust my home to other people’s children, I expect that while you’re here with them they’re under your watchful eye, my son is 7 and I still check on him regularly as if he were 2 because kids are kids…
Ok here the thing if they took you to court they would order you to pay for the computer least offer to help them I have had lab top that someone else’s child spelled water on but I took my losses on it. Because that who I am but I have replaced other item’s that my children broke when they was little even toys that belong to the other child
This happened to my daughter when she wAs 12. She stayed the night at a friends and happened to lean onto their glass top table at dinner to grab cake and the glass slid and broke. It was an accident.
I didnt feel like I was completely responsible, but I ended up paying for a new glasstop.
I would offer to pay for half…their child was also there & using the computer & an adult wasn’t supervising them…
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I would ask them why they weren’t supervising the children? If you can’t see them, you should have to still hear them. It’s the responsible thing to do right? Especially if it’s something of value, and then trust children with it? That person put both of the children in possible danger because of no proper supervision. What if they got into something else and a child got injured ? Will they pay for all the hospital bills ? I bet not. If they were watching the children, and the kids were acting in a way that would harm the computer, the parent watching the children would tell them to step away from what they’re not suppose to be doing.
Sorry, that’s on you. Your kid shouldn’t be breaking things at other people’s homes
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If your child is old enough to know better and was it an accident that shouldn’t have happened
For example did they drop it when they werent supposed to touch it? Did they spill something on it that wasn’t su P posed to be near it? Did they have permission to use it?
Is it warwarrantied?
If your child damaged someone’s property then its your responsibility to pay.
Also what does it have to do with anything who asked who to stay? That does not mean your child isn’t responsible for their own actions. Dont make lame excuses that have zero to do with the situation.
I would want to know full details and child’s age. It would have to have been my child’s fault entirely. What kind of computer? How do you break a computer? How do you know for sure that your kid did it? Full details first
I’d have to ask how old the kid is. If you give my 2 year old a computer, no, I’m not paying you for it. My 6 year old? Probably so unless there is some underlying reason why I wouldn’t like I have asked the person to NOT let her use it. As for the “I didn’t ask defense” that will never fly with me. You had the option to say no. You agreed. Unless your child was kidnapped, they stayed with someone you felt was reasonably adept at caring for them so you can’t push off blame in order to make an end run for paying for it.
I think partial responsibility yes. I would only pay 50% of the damages for an item like that. It also all is situational.
Yep that’s your responsibility! Especially at that value!!! It has nothing to do with not keeping an eye on your child it has everything to do with the fact that if if tables were reversed and you child was about to start remote learning, you’d expect the same no? (It’s rhetorical) Ask yourself this, If it were a $5 toy, would you be ok with replacing it?
This its not different. It’s what’s right. They shouldn’t have to put all their valuables away bc your child comes over.
Absolutely pay. They shouldn’t have to bubble wrap their house so nothing gets broken.
This was actually a case on Judge Judy some years back. The homeowner was held responsible.
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I’ve been in this situation but with a neighbor kid. He was over for a few and somehow destroyed my son’s bedroom blinds. Then again with the same neighbor kid but his sister broke my porch swing pulling it right out of the porch ceiling. I never asked for any money or said they needed to fix/replace anything. My son goes to their house and something got broke. They then decide to tell my son his mom needs to replace what he broke. They had/have me completely fucked up. First off, don’t say anything to my son. Come to me. And if I wanted to be an ass I could have had all the things their kids broke at my house, have them pay for it. But I didn’t. Kids make mistakes. The way I see it is this. Unless you physically seen my child break your things and on purpose then come to me. We might work something out depending on what it is. I’m not replacing a 10 year old toy or a cup you’ve had for 20 years. My porch that I had to replace since it got ripped down came out of my pocket. Never did I get an offer for them to help. Idk what was broken but you can’t always go off of what someone says. Some ppl love to use others for their personal gain
My son and a neighbor’s kid were playing catch on our front yard and the neighbor’s kid accidentally threw the ball and broke our window. His dad replaced it the next day.
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Yep you’re responsible. However I feel you’d be justified to request an estimate for repair before just deciding to replace. If it’s non-repairable or not cost effective, then the right thing to do is to replace the machine. Nothing saying you can’t ask your child to work off the cost in chores or get odd jobs to help pay if he’s old enough to be hired for them.
I suppose it depends on the circumstances and what the other parents have said to you! Like if my child had thrown it then yes defo, but if it was an accident n the parents have said nothing of it then yes I would! I would probably offer to replace anyway tbh if my child was involved!!
It depends because there’s 2 SIDES to EVERY story! How could you be so SURE tht your child was the one who SUPPOSEDLY break it?!? Both children couldve been using it together && the child of the house couldve done it && blame it on the other child…if my child was the ONLY one using the computer than I would replace and I want PROOF.
I would never of asked however if my child broke something especially if it’s expensive at someone else’s house I would at least offer to pay half
I think if your child gets an allowance then he/she should pay for it or at least offer to pay for it it’s the right thing to do.
Well depends if they broke the rules I would feel like the kid should earn money towards it. If it was truly an accident maybe not but in my experience “an accident” usually happens because someone isn’t following rules. Also I wouldn’t expect someone to watch them every second of they are above 5 they should know to follow rules and be careful with stuff and not touch stuff that’s not theirs.