This kid is going places. Possibly jail, but definitely places
If I had broken my laptop and was honest about it, they'd have gossiped about me, a child, as if I should have the sensibilities of an adult. They might have also gossiped about my parents. They wouldn't worry too much if I overheard—perhaps even making a point of it to 'teach' me something. They definitely wouldn't worry about their kids overhearing it, and then I'd have to deal with them judging me too (read: using it as an excuse to try to bully me). If one of their own bullying kids was the reason my laptop was broken I'd have gotten to deal with being called a liar on top of it all, which would have been an even bigger excuse to try to bully me.
Thing is, if I'd have broken it, I'd have done odd jobs and saved allowances to repay it. That wouldn't have changed anything about the community response, though.
First you assume the family is poor. Second, you assume the laptop was _accidentally_ broken. Third, you assume the family has no other computer.
From what evidence do you draw ANY of your conclusions?
Plenty of rich or middle-class individuals steal things. It's not just the poor.
For a $300 iPad, they charge $100 for the first repair, then $500, then $1000. So these are penalties not repair fees. This iPad is expected to last through elementary school or middle school, so multiple years.
This is hard for an elementary schooler or even middle schooler and the risk of damaging these things, oddly they do not provide cases but allow students to buy their own.
I’d rather go back to paper books that are very hard to damage.
The school hired an “iPad wrangler” and cover their salary through the penalty fines. So it’s more expensive than just buying AppleCare. It’s also worse as it takes forever to get service and it’s faster to just go into an Apple store.
I’m not poor, but don’t have hundreds of dollars. Here’s some examples of charges- 1) iPad doesn’t work, school claims student damaged it but doesn’t know what is broken or what could have caused the failure, penalty charged, iPad replaced, no appeal possible, iPad wrangler (who has no credentials or training or skills in iPads) rules definitively; 2) another student knocks iPad out of hands onto floor breaking, penalty charged to steward not to knocker; 3) stolen, penalty charged
It’s implemented quite stupidly at school with no insurance and no skills for repair. 8+ year olds have a hard time protecting expensive electronics.
Not mention that the devices have spyware reporting all activity, not allowing messaging to parents and guardians, and not providing logs or audit to parents and guardians.
It’s funny that I dreamed of stuff like a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer and we get this Brazil-like implementation where everything sucks, but digitally.
I had stuff like this happen to me in school; my family was not well off, so it was a fun prank for the kids who had money to 'accidentally' break or lose my things that I couldn't get replaced.
Remember, classism is taught early.
Is this a thing where you live, putting kids into jail for something as worthless as a laptop?
Everyone has got half a dozen old laptops in their basement nowadays, I can hand over 3 to them if that's what they need to keep them out of prison.