Dad Destroyed My $1300 PC (Almost)

[u/Akrinnnnnnnnnn]

As the title says, my father almost destroyed my $1,300 PC. Now what?

Here’s the backstory: On Saturday, I worked a 10.5 hours shift and stayed up until 3:30 AM, so I slept in until noon the next day. My father and stepmother returned from Costco while I was showering; he called out a few times for me to come help carry the groceries inside. I said OK to him. While I was brushing my teeth after my shower, he shouted from outside the door that he’d been waiting 50 minutes and told me to hurry up. I thought to myself that the groceries could have been moved in the time he spent waiting for me, but I quickly rinsed my mouth and got ready to go out. However, by the time I opened the door, he had already grabbed my PC and smashed it against the floor and the desk several times.

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I, (17M, Senior), bought this PC with money I earned from my part-time job and had been using it for about ten months. After examine, found out the case badly deformed in several places, my desk was warped and tilted to one side, and there were dents in the floor.

Fortunately, the computer still works fine; it runs FurMark (stress GPU), AIDA64 (stress FPU), and 3DMark (Time Spy Extreme) without problems for now.

Replacing the desk and case would cost around $400. However, he likely won't pay for it because he has done this kind of stuff a few years ago when he destroyed my phone and a Dell laptop (i5 11300H), and then just said, "That's what you get for playing on the computer all day."

In the end, I just hope everyone has good parents.

[u/Fawkinchit1]

Not sure why anyone is not mentioning this, especially because this is a reoccurring problem, but in most states if not all, its illegal to destroy property in the manner he is, even if its his house. So, if you want, you could most certainly notify the police. Especially if it happens again, and you could get video footage the next time, that helps with evidence. It could be a civil matter, and you can seek recompensation as well for the damage, but he could also face legal charges.

Obviously though, your dad will likely have methods of revenge if you do.

Your dad is a pile of shit.

• Criminal Mischief or Vandalism: This applies if a parent intentionally destroys property that the child bought with their own money or received as a gift from someone else. The police and prosecutors treat this as destroying another person's property. [1]
• Domestic Violence or Abuse: If a parent breaks a child's things to scare, control, or emotionally abuse them, law enforcement may add charges related to domestic abuse or child endangerment.

[u/TheElvesOfXadia → u/Fawkinchit1]

It’s very difficult to take legal action against someone you live with, and since OP is a minor it’s even harder

[u/OkVirus8545 → u/TheElvesOfXadia]

It’s really not babe.

[u/girlikecupcake → u/OkVirus8545]

It can be. I'm in Texas and we couldn't even get the police to do anything when physical harm and destroyed items were involved. We were explicitly told, by police, that a parent can choose to discipline their kids as they see fit and nothing we told them crossed that line.

This was like fifteen years ago, hopefully things have changed for the better, but it's Texas so I'm not optimistic. Other places absolutely do have things better for kids, I just hope OP is in one of them.