I don’t see anywhere in the OP that says the teen was gabbing on the phone to her friends.
I know when I babysat, the parents of the kids would call occasionally to check on the children and give me updates to when they’d be home. It would make sense to keep a phone handy; parents can panic when no one answers.
Again, I don’t fault the teen for keeping her phone near.
Near is one thing. In an avoidably vulnerable spot is another.
I’m not saying she isn’t responsible enough not to gab, I’m saying there is no reason for her to have the cell phone with her while babysitting at my house unless she is going to gab and therefore, the cell phone is not my responsibility. If she drives herself to my house and my kid flushes her car keys, those I’ll pay for.
My daughter took her gameboy to school where it got lost. The little girl who had it last said she’d put it back, my daughter had no idea where it was. But, my daughter took her gameboy to school (she is seven). She does not need a gameboy at school and if it is lost, broken or stolen, that is her problem - that is a risk of taking your gameboy to school.
(It was found the next day in a pocket of her backpack).
A babysitting teenagers should realize that some kids are little shits and charge appropriately - its a cost of doing business (and since the few paid babysitters we’ve had have made $10+ an hour, I’m not crying crocodile tears over the loss). And not bring her cell phone or her mp3 player and leave it where the little shits can get to it.
I’d punish my kid, but I’ll only pay for half the babysitters irresponsibility in leaving her cell phone where the kid can get it - and only that because I’m “nice.”
They can answer the house phone - which is what I’d be calling on anyway - I’m not calling the babysitter’s cell. The only person calling the babysitter’s cell is her friends or her parents - and her parents can call the house number, too.
I sometimes talk on my phone while I’m watching my kid. I can’t fault someone else for doing so.
Of course I’d replace the phone. If I were concerned about how the phone got into the kid’s hands in the first place, I might decide not to hire that sitter again, but I’d still replace the phone. My kid’s the one I’m supposed to be teaching life lessons to, not the babysitter.
Alternatively, a parent should realize that their kid is a little shit and compensate appropriately. Replacing a destroyed item is appropriate compensation.
I’ll redundantly chime in with the “pay for the phone” crowd. Parents are responsible for their young children. FWIW, I would be more worried if the babysitter didn’t have her phone in the bathroom, although I would be more careful about placing it away from the water.
Sapo raises another good point about ensuring the babysitter’s parents are aware of the actions taken. Not to be cynical, but she could just be trying to get money.
Also, I gathered from the OP that she was talking about someone else’s situation, not her own. Am I wrong?
Not when the item in question shouldn’t have been in my house to begin with. I’m paying you to do a job, it doesn’t involve your personal cell phone. Besides which, in this case it was an accident, not the kid being a shit (which I’d punish for) - but I wouldn’t punish for an accident.
Don’t want your phone dropped in water, don’t set it on the tub ledge.
Why does he keep washing his phone??
Oh, I see. 
Yes, the sitter is my daughter. The child is my daughter’s young cousin (the mom is her first cousin).
Me either!
My daughter came back from babysitting complaining about the phone. We took it all apart and let it dry out, but it was toast. She asked my advice about whether or not to ask her cousin to pay for it. I said, well, every time my young kid damaged someone’s property, I offered to replace the item/repair the damages. My daughter said, well, I don’t want to seem rude - and it was an accident, after all - so that is when I suggested that they go halfs on it. The replacement is only $50, so that would be $25 for the mom. I thought that was reasonable.
Well, after my daughter approached her cousin about it, her cousin got very offended, told my daughter she was ungrateful and rude (she yelled at her on the phone for about 5 minutes :eek: ). I was surprised at this reaction, and began to doubt my own advice. So that is why I posted the OP.
For what it’s worth, my philosophy has also been that the child should contribute what they can to the mitigation. For example: my son one time tore up a neighbor’s lattice work around their deck, while chasing a cat. He was about 6 too, come to think of it. I bought a piece of lattice and he and I went over to the neighbors, hammer and saw in hand. I sawed the pieces to fit and required my son to hammer them into place. It only took a few lessons like that before he became more careful with other people’s property.
First of all, your definition of “accident” is a little sketchy. The dropping the phone was an accident, but the grabbing of the phone in the first place was the kid being a shit IMO.
Secondly, do you bring your cell phone to work? And if your boss picked your cell phone up off your desk and fucked around with it until it broke, would you perhaps think he owed you a new one?
One more clarifying point: She’s my stepdaughter, and this is her birth mom’s side of the family. Her mom passed away a few years ago, or I would have let her (stepdaughters’ mom) handle it.
I agree that it sounds reasonable in this situation.
Wow. I would be too. Not sure what can be done other than eat the cost of the phone and avoid the cousin, but it’s sure sad it turned nasty.
It sounds like it was an accident, but the kind the 6-year-old should be held responsible for, since she picked it up while in the tub. (Kind of like, if I accidentally broke your antique vase while playing catch with it. 
)
There’s no good reason for the cell phone to have been in the bathroom, within reach of the kid, but the babysitter is probably in the habit of keeping her cell phone close by.
I see nothing whatsoever wrong with a teenager having her cell phone with her on a babysitting gig. Actually using it to talk with her friends may or may not be perfectly fine, depending on what the kid is doing at the time. (e.g. if the kid is in bed asleep, why the heck not?)
My verdict: the parent should pay for the cell phone, but the teenager should be more careful in the future and should not expect to get reimbursed if the same thing happens again.
NinetyWt, where exactly was the phone? Was it on the floor, edge of tub, etc?
Its totally out of line for the mom to yell at your daughter. Obviously a few people here think it reasonable to decline the request, but the mom should have done so politely. As mentioned, she can not hire the babysitter again, but she’s not her kid to discipline.
I’m reading a lot of back-and-forth where the options seem to be either a) having the cellphone in the bathroom or b) keeping it out of the kid’s reach, and I keep thinking about c), “Why wasn’t the phone in her pocket?” When my phone is with me it’s almost always in my pants pocket (the exception is when I’m wearing a skirt or something without pockets, in which case it’s in my purse), and I can’t think of any cellphone that a self-respecting 17-year-old would have that wouldn’t fit in one.
I’m not sure, and that’s one reason I suggested they go in halfs.
I’m really regretting it along about now. My daughter-in-law just told me that she was shopping with the cousin/mom the other day and the cousin/mom said that she knew “exactly where that came from!” - meaning that I had put my daughter up to “getting an attitude”. Sheesh. I’ve only been married to Hubby for 3 years - this jip doesn’t even KNOW me. If I had known the situation would have gotten so out of hand, I would have let my daughter pay for her own replacement phone and gone on about my business.
I’ve only read part of this thread, so sorry if I repeat anyone.
She very well could have had it in her pocket. In fact, the scenario I was thinking of is that she had it in her pocket, didn’t want it to drop into the tub, and took it out and set it somewhere so that didn’t happen. If something like that happened, I think it was actually pretty thoughtful of her not to leave the kid to put it in a different room (although I would think 6 is old enough to bathe without someone sitting right there).
My opinion: parents of the 6 yo should have paid for it.
Now I’ll go finish reading .
I’m presuming you meant step-daughter, not daughter-in-law.
Asking for half the replacement cost was in no way, shape, or form either rude or ungrateful. If the cousin/mom asks her to babysit again, her answer should be “Sure, my new fee schedule is $25 for the first 15 seconds, (previous rate) per hour after that.”
The fact that they’re cousins does make it stickier though - presumably your step-daughter, and perhaps even her annoying cousin, don’t want to poison their relationship over this.
Pay for the phone and get another sitter. The phone should not have been in the bathroom.