Some kid broke my daughters arm today

[bulpup 98]

This is def going to happen. NO DOUBT the insurance Co is going to sue that kids parents.

 

Ask me how I know?

 

wooord.

[Wolfy 51]

Well ... we went through the school because we only had a first name his sisters name and the grade he was in. The principal helped us in getting in touch with the child's parents and they both seemed to be very sincere and concerned about my daughter and the situation. Im not a firm believer in everything in the idea that some people have about everything needing to result in a lawsuit .. it really doesnt need to. At this point the kid and his parent will be coming to our house tonight and were gonna discuss things and im pretty sure this wont go unaddressed. Were going to make sure my daughter feels as though she wasnt just hurt and nobody did anything about it ... we will address this and thats my main concern is my daughter knowing this isnt exceptable and for the kid to learn that as well. However I still think we can achieve this by meeting with the parents and NOT have to go to the police.

 

I agree with the way you handled it. I doubt it was malicious the kid is 8 but he should know better. All my nieces and nephews were raised to be gentle to the family pets (under close supervision) and I think this helped them understand not to intentionally hurt any living creature.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I agree, the second the insurance company finds out the injury was related to an assault they will be going after the kid and his parents. If for instance you didnt have the police involved and claimed the injury as accident, then they wouldn't even know. I'm all for accountability, not necessarily sue sue sue. My concern would be that the kid actually learns something from this and not just a 2 week no tv punishment. Kids who exhibit this kind of behavior at age 8, unless addressed, seem to only get worse.

[Babaganoosh 192]

This is such BS. My kids, earlier than that age, had a moral compass. My son is 7, so it's not like it's very far removed from my memory as to how things ARE today. If you said "Some kids at that age, whose parents exhibit no real parenting, have no real moral compass..." then you might have been correct.

 

Right and wrong comes on at a very early age. If it hadn't, a lot of us would have killed our younger siblings...

 

Just because your kid is a certain way doesn't mean EVERY kid is that way. You can't really compare your own kid to another persons kids. Too many variables. Also having a moral compass can be thrown out the window when the kid is trying to show off in front of other kids. That's why the straight A, captain of the football team, honor society president of a school passes the schoolbus, crashes and kills himself and 3 people. It happens all the freaken time. Every year you see it in the local papers. Then everyone says.... But I dont get it, Timmy was such a good kid , he knew right from wrong.His parents were such good parents. Why would he do that? The answer? Because kids are stupid. Kids do dumb things. Just like your 7 year old kid is going to do when he gets older. Most of the time you aren't even going to find out about it unless it's a really big problem and he ends up destroying property or someones life.

 

You didn't do anything stupid as a kid? I know I did. I know pretty much all my friends did. You never drank until you were 21? Never raced your car against another kid? Drove with the lights off at night for fun? Burnouts? Never did wheelies on a motorcycle? Threw eggs at cars? Stole anything? Got in fights? Pulled a girls hair on the playground? Jumped off a bridge into a river? Stole a lawn ornament or smashed a pumpkin? Thats just a few of the things we have done and I had one of strictest set of parents in my group of friends. Yup I also played sports, was the troop leader in boy scouts, church youth group, taught sunday school. I'm pretty sure I had and have a moral compass, and I know right from wrong, even so I was involved in all those things.

[djg0770 481]

Point taken.

 

My greatest concern was how the parents of the offender would react. I recommended filing a police report at the occurrence of the incident because if you "talk to the parents and then find out they're schmucks" it can be too late to "get the truth in writing".

 

I knew I was bullied by a much larger boy in middle school, my dad went to see his dad, and his dad was a (insert middle european ethnic slur here) who just kinda shrugged it off. Been there, done that, wore the badges...

 

Doing a burnout or breaking a girls arm are "just a little bit" different.

[Vlad G 345]

This is such BS. My kids, earlier than that age, had a moral compass. My son is 7, so it's not like it's very far removed from my memory as to how things ARE today. If you said "Some kids at that age, whose parents exhibit no real parenting, have no real moral compass..." then you might have been correct.

 

Right and wrong comes on at a very early age. If it hadn't, a lot of us would have killed our younger siblings...

 

Please read the link I posted earlier on what psychologists think about the issue. In some ways they do have a moral compass, the problem is that it only has north and south on it, and the definitions of north and south change, and why the needle moves also changes a lot in that age bracket. At that age they are not fully prepared to understand nuances or apply whatever moral code they have to new situations. If they did, they wouldn't need you anymore. Are you prepared to send your kids at 7 out into the world and make the correct moral decision under social pressure?

 

Edited to add: keep in mind that 7-8 their just begining to understand that girls are different, but in that sense that a dog knows a cat is not a dog kinda way.

[Downr@nge 22]

I'm not sue happy either but at the very least you should file a police report. This way, like someone above pointed out, you establish a pattern of occurrences. Furthermore, who's to say your daughter won't suffer more in the future from those injuries? Without a record of the incident, you would have no leg to stand on in court if try to get compensation for it. Meanwhile, this little kid receives the message that he can slam kids around and nobody is gonna do anything about it. He grows up to terrorize and hurt others and when he finally gets in trouble, it will look like its his first time doing something like that.

 

I don't know about anyone else here but I teach my kids to not put their hands on anyone, one because its wrong, two because of situations like this. I don't want to be taken to court over something like this but if my kid did something like this, I would own up to it and actually expect to be sued. A broken arm is a serous medical issue. What if your daughter accidentally shifts her arm and complicates the injury further and needs surgery? You need some sort of legal record of this incident, I can't stress that enough.

 

As far as dealing with the school, I'd just give them a copy of the police report and give them a heads up about the boy and to keep an eye on him so it doesn't happen again.

[Bob La 1]

Things you learn very early on:

 

Keep your hands to yourself.

 

Men / boys don't hit girls.

 

Later you learn to never involve the government / police.

[7-3-2 9]

I'm not sue happy either but at the very least you should file a police report. This way, like someone above pointed out, you establish a pattern of occurrences. Furthermore, who's to say your daughter won't suffer more in the future from those injuries? Without a record of the incident, you would have no leg to stand on in court if try to get compensation for it. Meanwhile, this little kid receives the message that he can slam kids around and nobody is gonna do anything about it. He grows up to terrorize and hurt others and when he finally gets in trouble, it will look like its his first time doing something like that.

 

I don't know about anyone else here but I teach my kids to not put their hands on anyone, one because its wrong, two because of situations like this. I don't want to be taken to court over something like this but if my kid did something like this, I would own up to it and actually expect to be sued. A broken arm is a serous medical issue. What if your daughter accidentally shifts her arm and complicates the injury further and needs surgery? You need some sort of legal record of this incident, I can't stress that enough.

 

As far as dealing with the school, I'd just give them a copy of the police report and give them a heads up about the boy and to keep an eye on him so it doesn't happen again.

 

Agreed, except I cant prove it was done with bad intentions or if it was just wrestling around that got out of control. This is what annoys me as I wish my Wife and her Father were watching what happened but the incident occurred on the other side of the playground from where they were sitting so they just happened to not be able to see the actual incident. It sucks but hey the kid and the kids parents came over tonight bearing gifts and an apology. They also offered to pay any copays or anything that we may have needed. They handled it well ... but do I know if they punished their kid to the extent I would if the role was reversed? No of course not ... especially since her kid is saying they were wrestling and he fell on her and his friends are saying the same thing. The parents very well could have been like not our kid go screw yourself ... but right now I'd like to believe some people can still handle things like adults.

[7-3-2 9]

And to anyone calling my wife irresponsible you guys can bite me, we had two adults there for my two children and they lost sight of the kids for a moment its called life, anyone whos ever had children knows its impossible to watch and monitor what is going on at a playground 24/7. Yeah hind sight is 20/20 and if we could all see into the future there would never be things called an accidents or a mistakes in this world. Ill admit my first response was to get pissed and try and blame them as well but everyone is human and I know my wife would NEVER have ignored a situation she really thought was dangerous for our children.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Sounds like you had a good resolution there. I'm glad it didn't spiral into a big thing. Hope your daughter's ok.

[Babaganoosh 192]

It sucks but hey the kid and the kids parents came over tonight bearing gifts and an apology. They also offered to pay any copays or anything that we may have needed. They handled it well ... but do I know if they punished their kid to the extent I would if the role was reversed? No of course not ... especially since her kid is saying they were wrestling and he fell on her and his friends are saying the same thing. The parents very well could have been like not our kid go screw yourself ... but right now I'd like to believe some people can still handle things like adults.

 

 

This is exactly how it would have been handled by my parents and the parents of the kids I went to school with. This is exactly how people should act when unfortunate accidents like this happen.

[bry@n 195]

When I meant to sue earlier, I meant for medical bills etc... I am not sue happy but sometimes a lawsuit wakes people up a lil.

 

In the end, I think you handled it well and if the parent is genuinely concerned, then you did the right thing.

 

I do believe that most people really care. In the end, kids will be kids. I have had my fair share of having my parents pay bills for things that happened. Truth is though, they all needed a good azz kicking and my dad was okay with it as long as I followed the rules. Life was also wayyyy different back then.

[hmmjak 2]

sorry to hear about your daughter but sounds like things are somewhat working out. i know if that was me my parents would've beat my a** to the ground and then make me go apologize and then beat my a** to the ground again.

 

oh don't worry too much about it. children's bones do heal quite rapidly. if you are that concerned go to the hospital and get the x-ray films and bring it to an actual orthopedic doctor/surgeon. he'll be able to tell you more as that is his specialty. see if a closed reduction is possible. you don't have to jump right into surgery.

[Anselmo 87]

When my son was 8 he accidentally broke a little girls arm playing tag on the playground. He was hoping he was exaggerating but we ran into her and her parents at a hockey game. The little girl's arm was in a sling. The little girl came over and sat next to my son making 8 year old goo-goo eyes at him. Her parents sat a few row away and never said anything to me. The attorney my wife works for advised us to not say anything to the parents unless they approached me first. That is the path I took. I regret not manning up and apologizing to them.

[7-3-2 9]

Thanks guys, Im happy with how things were handled and I'll make sure to follow up and make sure there arent any issues with the child in the future. However at this point im past all the anger and rage and more focused on getting my baby healthy and back out on the playground asap so she can enjoy her summer the best she can.

Thanks everyone for your concern/support,

Kev

[JimmyAGR 54]

With all the sue, sue, sue, rants around it seems like a lot of people forget how things went on the playground when they were kids.

 

I'm sure the response to that will be.. Times have changed!

 

It's funny how people get right into that mode these days. I think it's been ingrained in us by society. Call the authorities! File a police report! Take them to court! Sue!

 

I find it ironic that the same people who fight against that kind of stuff as gun owners, are so quick to act that way when the shoe is on the other foot. We don't want the authorities involved in much of anything, since they tend to make situations worse but want to involve them now?

 

The guy hasn't even talked to the kids parents yet. I think that would be the first step. I could have easily seen this happen at anytime when I was 8 years old. A little girl coming over and saying a boy was being mean? Cmon all boys are mean to little girls at that age. Boys and girls definitely hit and wrestled each other on the playground when I was a kid. Not all of the girls mind you but some sure did. I remember being kicked in the sack a few times myself.

 

 

+1, been in many disagreements on the playground. Sometimes bad things happen. Talk to the parents, our society is way too litigious.

[Johnnydammit 1]

Yea, my son(10) came running to me when a boy(10 also) shoved my daughter(5) off the ladder of a slide and was crying. I saw the parents of the boy laughing and telling him that wasn't nice and that was that. As my son stood there I told him what do you want me to do? What are you going to do? You are supposed to watch out for your little sisters! Who did she call for? You right? He went over to the boy to confront him and the boy laught in his face! My son then processed to beat the crap out of the kid! When his parents came over to say something I told my son while laughing " That wasnt nice" see! What comes around goes around! And that was the end of it!

[Dan 177]

Good outcome under the circumstances. I'd let it slide accepting the parent's concessions. If something like this happened again in the future, no more Mr Nice guy. That is something I would make very clear as it seems you have proof it was an actual attack, and here this boy and his friends(surprise) are lying to try to cover it up as an accident.