Is There an Obligation of Hashavas Aveidah on an Item Lost by a Child?

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at [email protected] Question: In my development, there are many scooters, coats, toys, etc., which were obviously dropped by children. Do I have to pick up and return all of these lost items?Answer: The truth is that anything knowingly entrusted to a child has the status of an aveidah m’daas. The Mishnah in Bava Basra (87b) discusses a case where a parent sends a child with a jug to purchase oil from a storekeeper. If the jug falls and breaks on the way home, the Mishna says that the storekeeper is liable to pay for it. The gemara there explains that if the storekeeper would have simply filled the jug and sent the child on his way, he would not be liable. The reason the Mishnah says he is chayav is that it is specifically referring to a case where the storekeeper first used the jug for his own purposes, thereby becoming a shoel shelo m’daas. Since a shoel shelo m’daas is considered a gazlan, the storekeeper now has an obligation to return the jug to its owner. If it breaks before being returned, he is liable.Both the Ketzos Hachoshen and Nesivos Hamishpat conclude from this sugya that one is not obligated to protect something that a parent entrusts to a child. Although one cannot take the item for himself, he also is not responsible to guard it.If the parents entrust an item to the child, no one else is obligated to protect it any better than they did. If the parents know that a child may lose or break an object they give to