Do you make your teen+ children pay for what they damage?

[lightbulb27]

Kids can be rough on stuff especially when they don't know how to manage their emotions. They are kids and learning, but they need to know the cost of what they do. Do you make them cleanup, pay up, or repair what they break? How do you discipline them so they learn right/wrong.

Another aspect of this is... littering, discarding things that are vaulable... wasting materials.. ex. some kids will waste paper towels, waste bottled water, waste expensive food, etc.. They don't think of the cost.

That stuff bugs me... we work on our kids constantly so they value what they have.

One of the problems in society is the lack of training... lack of discipline. It's a huge problem passed onto adults in rules/enforcement roles and setting kids up for failure.

Yes the game is not fair, and that anger will cost you $500! End of the games!

Yes - pay

Yes - fix it

Sometimes

No...

Other

[midnightmoon05]

When my kids were around 6,8 years old. I took them to the supermarket. My son poked his finger into a pack of salmon. He made a den. I asked if he would buy that pack of salmon. He said no. Obviously…he had to “paid” for it so he wouldn’t do it again.
Kids have to be taught at a young age.

[lightbulb27]

that's the only way and it needs done in schools and at home with as much consistency as possible.

[worldscolide]

I would start teaching them that at a young age. If you break it you buy it, and if you can't buy it, you're going to work it off, first by apologizing to the person who the item belongs to and offering to do what ever that person asked to work the item off. It's how I was raised. I learned really quick to value things especially if they weren't mine.

[WanderingLoveWizard]

Whenever I punched a hole in the wall, my dad made me buy the materials and fix it. If we didn't have the right paint, I had to go to Home Depot and find the right color and texture until the wall looked new lol.

It didn't stop me from punching holes in the wall though, unfortunately. Only maturity solved that problem

[lightbulb27]

I like that, it's possible result as our teen grows... likes to punch things and is a wound up spring.

[WanderingLoveWizard]

That explains me as a teen pretty well lol. I still feel bad about it though, it was stupid

[lightbulb27]

hormones, emotional frustration = holes in wall. I used to be handyman, saw lots of damaged doors and such... especially when divorces and parents were unstable.

[WanderingLoveWizard]

Wow, I can imagine. That makes sense though

[TrueConfection]

None of my kids ever broke something in a fit of anger, but if they did they would have to pay. We always tried to make the punishment for the crime.

I think the worst was 2 of them decided it would be a good idea to color on the wall. They spent some time scrubbing it clean.

[TrueConfection]

*fit the crime

[lightbulb27]

that's good, probably fun work. I wanted to see kids cleanup the spray paint messes they left in buildings.

[TrueConfection]

Right! Some of those are very artistic. It seems like those kids could put their talent to better use.

[Anonymous]

Largely depends. Like if it's a genuine accident like they tripped and fell against the TV and it fell over then maybe replace it when it can be but on purpose? They are going to pay for it or do without.

That kind of destructive behaviour needs to be nipped in the bud otherwise you are cutting a rod to beat yourself with.

Yes also tidy your own toys up, clean your room, make your bed. Laziness and disobedience should never be rewarded.

[exitseven]

I never had to deal with this issue. They may have broken something accidently but never on purpose. Maybe if they lost or broke something, the next time they wanted to use it I would refuse.

[lightbulb27]

they get harsh on things and hasn't broken yet, so we yell at them:)

[exitseven]

When my kids were in college they had the upstairs 3 bedrooms and my wife and I had a 4th bedroom and bathroom added on. After they all moved out I wanted to fix the upstairs up since they really trashed the place. They had posters on most of the hollow core doors. When I took the posters down I found holes in all the doors. I ended up replacing all of them.

[lightbulb27]

big bucks and a lot of work. yes... can happen. haven't had that damage yet.

[exitseven]

I replaced all the doors and some of the woodwork. Then I replaced all the baseboard radiator covers. We painted all the rooms and I put new light fixtures and redid the bathroom. Finally we replaced the carpet. It looks like a new house.

[lightbulb27]

good, it's in a state where it can be maintained to be fresh without all the traffic.

[LazerBean]

Unless you want to be paying their bail for the rest of their life, you teach them to pay for their mistakes while they're young.

[Agape93]

Absolutely. If you can't pay, you're working it off.

[purplepoppy]

If it gets to the stage they're breaking the tv then you failed as a parent long before that.

[Massageman]

Read TrueConfection (yummy name). There should definitely be a consequence- of some sort- if the damage is deliberate.

[Sparkie460]

I have never had a problem with my kids. They never broke anything on purpose. They were well behaved and respectful.

[Greenbean27]

Depends if they broke something on accident sure. If they broke something on purpose/ being stupid yes.

[Ms_Facesitter]

Pay. They need to learn to be grateful for what they have.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Make them pay for it.

[Adam1978]

I would if had any.