When kids break something, who’s responsible? For most people, the answer is simple: the parents. But one mom disagreed and now her babysitter may never come back.
In a heated AITA post, a single mom refused to cover the cost of her babysitter’s broken laptop after her 6-year-old ran off with it and dropped it. The story sparked outrage, with thousands weighing in on accountability, parenting, and fairness.
One mom refused to pay for her 6-year-old’s damage to her babysitter’s laptop, arguing the 17-year-old shouldn’t have left it out
When it comes to kids damaging someone else’s property, the rule is simple: parents are legally and financially responsible for their children’s actions.
The American Bar Association explains that in most U.S. states, “parents can be held liable for property damage caused by their minor children” under what’s called parental responsibility laws.
Developmentally, children aged 6 and 8 are considered old enough to understand basic boundaries, including not touching items that don’t belong to them.
Child development research shows that by age six, kids can reliably distinguish ownership and rules about respecting property (NCBI). If they break something belonging to another person, even by accident, the accountability falls to the parent.
In this case, the babysitter wasn’t negligent for leaving her laptop in a living room, that’s a normal and reasonable thing for a teen to do while working. What matters is that the child actively grabbed it, ran, and broke it. This is well past the stage of “toddlers not knowing better.”
Financially, refusing to pay shifts the burden of your child’s behavior onto a teenager who was there doing her job. If she pursued small claims court, she’d likely have a strong case. Beyond the legal side, failing to take responsibility undermines trust: babysitters need to know their belongings are safe in your home, just as you expect them to protect your kids.
Here’s what Redditors had to say:
These Reddit users insisted parents pay for kids’ damages
Some criticized her failure to teach respect
This commenter suggested small claims court
And this group called her excuse weak, noting the kids’ ages
These users rejected her “it’s ours” logic, emphasizing accountability
Most readers agreed that OP is the jerk here. While parenting is tough and accidents happen, accountability is part of the deal. Refusing to pay doesn’t just risk a broken laptop, it risks a broken relationship with childcare providers who are trusted with kids’ safety.
So, what do you think? Should OP pay up, or was she right to put the responsibility on the babysitter?
