Who is responsible for replacement?
This is a weird situation so I don’t know how to feel. I 10year old just entered 5th grade and on the 1st day of school his teacher announced all of the 5th grade will be getting Laptops and IPads to use this school year. A cheer went thought the crowd of children and most of the parents gave each other wide eyed scary looks including myself!. My question is would you be happy for the access to cutting edge technology or fearful that you would get a large bill if the equipment were lost or damages during the year? I don’t want to deny my child the same access as the rest of the children but we didn’t get him an IPad or laptop because he has trouble keeping up with his DSi and netbook as it is! what do you think am I being ridiculous to worry about replacement? would you let your 10year old carry around these things in their backpack? can i insure the schools equiptment for loss or damages?
A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries
Proud Mom to Chase
Welly
My 5th grader gets to use an ipad in class. They are not to be taken home though. I would ask the school about their policies. I am sure they have them in place. Once school in town has a $70 deposit on their ipads and they are allowed to be brought home. The $70 covers it if it is lost, stolen or broken...........
Do they get to bring them home or even take them out of their classroom? If so I would definitely ask about it. But even if it's just in the classroom under supervision I would still be asking because the odds are that something will happen to one of the kids in the school and it would be nice to know ahead of time so nobody is shocked by the consequences. Either way I'm guessing the school would have insurance (or should have some) and there woud be only a "minimal" cost to the replacement.
Ds1's middle school requires all 6th-8th graders to have a netbook/laptop (the 5th graders don't get them). As far as repairs, parents are responsible for a $100 co-pay. I believe parents are responsible for replacement if their child loses/permenantly damages a school-lent device.
This yr, the school is allowing students to bring their own device from home, but it has to meet the schools specification, and they still have to have a loaner agreement on file in case they have to borrow a school one if the one from home breaks.
I've never been a big fan of requiring the students to have one b/c dh and I always said our kids would never have their own computers, and here's ds1, having to have his own. We rented from the school the past 2 yrs, but got him his own laptop for this yr. The laptop stays downstairs in the kitchen or family rm, and it is for schoolwork only- it's the best compromise we can come up w/.
I don't see them being required at our schools but we are the same way. We don't let the kids use the computer at home as it is............ so for them to have their own computer..... no thanks. This year I think we will let Elise venture more on the computer but she really doesn't have a need quite yet. Once she does, she will be able to with strict rules regarding computer use.
Quoting wakymom:
Ds1's middle school requires all 6th-8th graders to have a netbook/laptop (the 5th graders don't get them). As far as repairs, parents are responsible for a $100 co-pay. I believe parents are responsible for replacement if their child loses/permenantly damages a school-lent device.
This yr, the school is allowing students to bring their own device from home, but it has to meet the schools specification, and they still have to have a loaner agreement on file in case they have to borrow a school one if the one from home breaks.
I've never been a big fan of requiring the students to have one b/c dh and I always said our kids would never have their own computers, and here's ds1, having to have his own. We rented from the school the past 2 yrs, but got him his own laptop for this yr. The laptop stays downstairs in the kitchen or family rm, and it is for schoolwork only- it's the best compromise we can come up w/.
At my kids' school all the kids get a laptop starting in 6th grade. I know that the parents are required to put down a $100 deposit at the beginning of the year. I assume that deposit is to cover lost & damaged laptops. I really don't know anything beyond that because my kids are only K and 2nd right now.
If your school doesn't require a deposit, or if you can't insure it, perhaps create your own "insurance". Start now by setting aside $10/month (or however much you can afford) to use only for if he does damage his laptop. At least then it wouldn't be a huge expense all at once.
My 1st grader gets to use iPods and laptops, but they are used in the computer lab.
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- Wellygrrl
on Sep. 10, 2012 at 1:17 PM