High school is holding a child responsible

[EmiliaG]

So my 17 year old cousin was sent home from school today because he broke a door. He was standing in front of a door when another student opened the door, hit my cousin, and it shattered. The school said they have reviewed their "tapes" and it was most definitely an accident, but because he was somewhere he should not have been (in front of a door), he was going to be held responsible for the payment and that will be his punishment. He is not being punished, his parents are because he is only 17 and does not work. How dumb is this? Don't schools have insurance for accidents? Should every child be responsible for accidents at school?

 

[Antigone*]

So my 17 year old cousin was sent home from school today because he broke a door. He was standing in front of a door when another student opened the door, hit my cousin, and it shattered. The school said they have reviewed their "tapes" and it was most definitely an accident, but because he was somewhere he should not have been (in front of a door), he was going to be held responsible for the payment and that will be his punishment. He is not being punished, his parents are because he is only 17 and does not work. How dumb is this? Don't schools have insurance for accidents? Should every child be responsible for accidents at school?

Not dumb at all. It depends. Maybe

ps. This has nothing to do with small claims

 

[Isis1]

the parent has the option of charging the child the monies and making them work it off. great way to teeach responsibility. sometimes accidents happen. and sometimes, you have to pay for them. ain't life full of twists and turns??

 

[xylene]

So my 17 year old cousin was sent home from school today because he broke a door. He was standing in front of a door when another student opened the door, hit my cousin, and it shattered. The school said they have reviewed their "tapes" and it was most definitely an accident, but because he was somewhere he should not have been (in front of a door), he was going to be held responsible for the payment and that will be his punishment. He is not being punished, his parents are because he is only 17 and does not work. How dumb is this? Don't schools have insurance for accidents? Should every child be responsible for accidents at school?

What state did this 'accident' occur in?

 

[Fyyne]

the school is lucky he wasn't injured or something. It should be kind of like a tripping in a store, there should be something there that will make sure the kid doesn't stand in front of the door. And, more than that, they shouldn't have glass doors anyway, an accident like that could injure someone, they should have those big wood doors that open real slow due to the metal V things on top, so that u can't open it fast enuf to injure someone and the door would be hard to break. That's a safety issue. The school should be responsible for replacing those glass doors, all of the glass doors in the school.

 

[Silverplum]

the school is lucky he wasn't injured or something. It should be kind of like a tripping in a store, there should be something there that will make sure the kid doesn't stand in front of the door. And, more than that, they shouldn't have glass doors anyway, an accident like that could injure someone, they should have those big wood doors that open real slow due to the metal V things on top, so that u can't open it fast enuf to injure someone and the door would be hard to break. That's a safety issue. The school should be responsible for replacing those glass doors, all of the glass doors in the school.

You should be a lawsuit lawyer. Make it your Life Mission to hold entities responsible for the morons of the world.

 

[tranquility]

"Shattered"? Does that mean the door was glass?

Boy, the state really would help. I WISH there was some way this website could ask the poster what state they were in when they post a question.

I'm thinking the claim will be negligence. As the Greek Goddess writes, it depends. What is the duty here? And, when we know the state we can determine if something like contributory negligence applies or if a parent can be held responsible for a minor's negligence.

Was there a painting on the ground to show the sweep of the door? If glass, was there some obstruction on the glass preventing the person opening the door from seeing what was on the other side? Who put that obstruction there? Was the door properly maintained?

Many, many facts. No way would I pay anything without finding out all the facts from the school. Even then, it seems like there is some level of shared responsibility here. Of course, depending on the state.