My son (11) and his friend (12) were skipping rocks on the dead end street in front of our house. The friend ended up hitting the windshield of our car causing a round crack the size of a baseball. My son told his Dad that he did it (I was out of town). When I returned, my son confided in me that he took responsibility to keep his friend from being beaten by his parents. I have reason to believe that the friend's parents do hit him. I explained to my son that he would need to pay the $500 deductible to replace the windshield but he still doesn't want us to talk to the friend's parents. I don't think my son should take all of the responsibility for this but I don't want to break his trust. My husband is worried that if we let this go it teaches or son the wrong lesson about friendship and responsibility. Advice?
Can you have the friend do chores around your house without telling his parents? This way he can learn some responsibilities without a beating.
Your son is protecting his friend and I don't think that is irresponsible. Your son told you the truth about what happened and that the consequences would be much worse for the friend.
Also, if you think this child is being abused then please get him some help.
I think it teaches the right lesson, that sometimes our friends need our help and our protection. If you really do have reason to believe this child is abused why would you want to give his parents ammo to use against him? You need to seriously consider making a call to CPS.
I'm an insurance agent. You don't pay your deductible for your window. If you have glass coverage, it should cost nothing or $50 or less. If you don't, a new windshield to replace is way less than $500 directly through a glass company. I think your son did the right thing in protecting his friend and I would leave it be. JMO. Good luck.
I'd be extremely proud of your son. What a caring and responsible thing he did, even if he lied (although he did confess, which is good).
I agree with the others in having the boys pay you back in some other way, such as chores around your house.
I personally would gladly pay the deductible in this type of extreme situation. I'd also keep my eyes and ears wide open in the future to learn more about his friend's home situation, so you can file a report, if needed.
I really do not think this is a real question because even my kids at 16 knew rocks to the windshield are not covered under the collision part of their insurance. That and your son lied to you or his dad? He tells you that he lied to dad but what if he is lying to you?
They were both throwing rocks right? So why shouldn't your son pay the 50 bucks it actually costs. Teaches him not to lie because then no normal person will believe him after that.
Why is everyone so proud of her son? He could have told the truth to dad but when mom said he had to pay for it suddenly it is the friend that through the rock. I would never get in between lying kids, without a witness you don't know what the truth is. Has anyone even talked to the abused kid?
I know this is not the point of the story but, you should really check around for the prices of a windshield. No reason to turn it into insurance and pay a $500.00 deductible. I'm in the rental car business and even the most expensive (here in San Diego) windshields are only about $250.00. As for your son, be proud of him for taking responsibility and for his caring heart.
Your car windshield is a minor issue. Stop focusing on that and start focusing on what your son told you about his friend's living conditions. Your son is a wonderful person and there is no lesson involving the car that needs to be taught, other than "don't skip rocks". The lesson that needs learning is that talking to an adult about a serious problem will result in getitng help for the problem. Nevermind your deductible, come up with solutions to help the child.
