Damage and Consequences

The practical half. Who pays for the broken thing, how to set up a repayment that is still running in three weeks, and what to do when the consequences you have been using stopped working some time ago.

Parental liability for property damage is a state statutory question and this site does not summarise it. Where the money question turns on law, the page links you to the survey and tells you to read your own state’s row.

Should They Pay for What They Broke?: Whether to make a teenager pay for damage, what paying is actually for, when it backfires, and what to do when there is no money and no way to get any.
Making a Repayment Actually Stick: Repayment arrangements collapse for structural reasons rather than personal ones. How to agree the figure, write it down, handle a missed payment, and end it.
When Grounding Has Stopped Working: Why escalating consequences stops changing anything, what separates a consequence from a punishment, and what is left when there is nothing else to take away.
Repayment Planner: A small calculator for a teenager repaying damage: cost, weekly cash, hours of work and an hourly rate, and it returns the schedule and the finish date. It ships empty.