I took advice yesterday and had a glass or two of wine and an early night following a sleepless one the night before worrying about this issue and have only just seen the most recent postings.

I asked for other views on the situation, and am grateful to receive all, including those that don't concur with mine.

To Peg A, I am not really trying to be obtuse in refusing to deal with the child, but rather put a proper process in motion.

I take your point about how hard the hood was pulled - I certainly don't think my kid is an angel, but in all his years of school he has never received a "black mark" for disrespecting either teachers, other pupils and the school rules. (He's had plenty for the usual dog ate my homework excuses though).

Boys at this age are certainly trying out their strength. The other kid is bigger than my son though and also older. My boy is the youngest in the class (just turned 13) others are 14 and some even turning 15 soon.

My feeling is that a 14 year old is trying to extort money from me. I know its subjective but the other clothes the boy wears and his housing really indicate a family on low income. That concerns me on two counts. To be honest we are not a family on a low income and I would absolutely hate someone to suffer from our actions. On the other hand I'm not going to be taken for a mug.

If one of the parents calls or writes (another option I suggested) shows me the jacket and the receipt, I will obviously do something (maybe go 50/50).

By the was kids hitting each other in the playground are an everyday occurrence. Kids are also smoking in the playground. Reporting it to the teacher would have made my son look like a wimp and I do sort of understand his actions. Street cred is important to a 13 year old.

My son made an odd little comment last night. Apparently the other boy wants a new TV (the kids had been talking about it in school) another kid said that you could buy one for CHF400. Am I being overly-suspicious in thinking that its odd that this amount has now come up in this compensation claim?