"charlieb" wrote in message
...
Bill Noble wrote:

but charlie - this is where we warn you away from product insurance

For an 8th grader?. You do know that they're VERY creative when it
comes to disabling, killing, destroying, electronic equiptment. One of
my "adoptees" killed cell phones by
1. dropping in the toilet
2. dropping in a sink full of water
3. dropping in a tub full of water
4. dropped in the pool
5. spilled a soda on one
6. dropped one in a bowl of cereal - and milk
7. left it on the lawn and the sprinklers got it
8. dropped it in a puddle
and the one you'd probably never even think of
9. a dog peed on it

I haven't gone through the insurance policy, but I was told it'd
cover just about anything other than B-B-Qing the computer.
Might be a good buy IF (and it probably will) something happens
to this laptop (note the word "laptop" - which can easily become
floor top, or pool, or . . .

a "rider" on your home insurance policy is one thing, the policy sold by the
store is another - just watch the cost - and an 8th grader can take care of
things (at least mine could at that age). Maybe making clear that "you
break it, then you fix it" will apply will help develop a careful attitude.
Just like having my older daughter spend a whole summer painting and working
on the car she would drive ingrained in her the notion that you take care of
cars (and she still hates a jitterbug)