Can a child be legally “negligent”?

So, a child under the age of 7 cannot be held legally liable for negligent acts and someone defending a case brought by an injured child under the age of 7 cannot defend the case using an argument that the child was guilty of contributory negligence. At age 14, children are presumed to be capable of negligence and can be held liable for the actions unless it can be proven that, for some reason, such as lack of intelligence or experience, it would unfair to hold a child liable. read more

Children Children may be negligent, but they are not held to the same standard of conduct as adults. A child's conduct is measured against the conduct expected of a child of similar age, intelligence, and experience. read more