Liability for damage to telephone at school

Questioner

If a teacher takes a phone and it is damaged or stolen when it is returned, who is liable and who should pay for it, the teacher or the student?

Lawyer

The person who caused the damage must in principle compensate for the damage. Have you already contacted the school/educational institution about this?

Questioner

I am asking this because one of our teachers has announced that after the Christmas holidays he will be placing a special table in his classroom where you have to put your phone at the beginning of the lesson and then pick it up again at the end of the lesson, but I was wondering because I recently bought a new phone who would be liable and therefore have to pay for the damage or the entire phone if my phone was stolen or damaged while it was on that table and it is therefore not known who damaged or stole it.

Lawyer

Okay, clear. The answer remains the same with the addition of the advice to communicate about this in advance with (the management of) the educational institution. I would like to hear what the response is from the educational institution.

Questioner

I don't have school until next Tuesday and I can't contact the management until then. I know that the teacher in question himself says that if you don't want to put your phone there, you should just put it in your locker and not take it to his class, but I think the locker is a less safe place than my own trouser pocket because we have a system at our school where you have to open your locker with a card and if you have forgotten your card you can just ask an employee to open the locker, but then it is not checked whether this is also your own locker and this is besides the fact that it has happened more often that multiple lockers were opened with 1 card. I also have a question about the fact that you are not allowed to take valuables into the changing room of the gym if you do and it is stolen the school is not liable they say, is this correct? and what if valuables are stolen from your locker, is the school liable?

Lawyer

A theft cannot indeed be blamed on the school, especially now that there are apparently possibilities to store your valuables in a safe. I would raise the issue with the easy-to-open safe with the management.