Childhood Injuries at School
Many parents are aware of the dangers of their kids talking to a stranger or revealing too much personal information on social media, but what they may not consider is the injuries their kids can sustain at school.
Childhood injuries at school are pretty common. According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 80% of grade school children are injured on school grounds. This is not surprising since children spend a significant amount of time during the school year in school or at school-related events. While some school accidents are unavoidable, others are the direct result of the actions of other students or school officials. If your child has been injured at school, it is normal for you to want to know who is responsible for your child’s injuries.
Who is Responsible for My Child’s Injury at School?
To determine who is liable for your child’s injury, you must first ask if the act was intentional or negligent. An example of an intentional act is bullying. This is when another student physically hurts your child. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the harassment, the parents of the offending student may be liable for your child’s injury. The school may also be responsible if staff members knew about the bullying and failed to stop the harassment.
In a similar situation, if a school staff member hurt your child, the school district may be held accountable for failing to perform a proper background check or neglecting to provide adequate supervision.
Many of these problems overlap with negligence. Maybe your child’s injury was not intentional but rather an accident. If that’s the case, even some accidents are caused by a failure on the part of the school.
What Types of Acts are Negligent?
Keeping our children safe at school should be the most important thing for school officials. When children are in their care, school officials act in place of parents and should provide most of the child’s needs in much the same way as parents do. Schools are required to provide food, shelter, transportation, and a safe environment.
Schools have a responsibility to prevent foreseeable dangers from injuring students when the children are around school equipment. If a school doesn’t provide an adequate standard of care to a student and the child is injured, the school could be negligent.
Keeping Students Safe at School
Schools must take steps to keep students safe on school grounds by having enough staff members to monitor students at recess and supervise students on the premise. This also includes hiring responsible bus drivers and crossing guards to ensure the safety of the students.
Schools must also use care when hiring coaches, teachers, and other staff by not exposing students to dangerous adults. If a school knew that a teacher or staff member had a history of molesting children, they could be responsible if a child was sexually abused by the offending adult.
Types of Dangerous Conditions on School Property
School teachers, staff, and administrators must keep equipment at the school in a safe condition and regularly maintained. Some hazardous conditions on school grounds may include:
- Frayed electrical wiring
- Mold and other toxic materials
- Unsafe playground equipment
- Unsanitary cafeteria conditions
- Wet floors
Watch YouTube Video: Students Suffer Minor Injuries in School Bus Crash. Seven children in Kansas City suffered minor injuries after a school bus accident.
Is it a Public or Private School?
A public school is considered a government entity. If you want to file a personal injury claim for your child’s injuries, there are strict rules that you must follow. Those rules are laid down by the state legislature.
If it’s a private school, it is considered a not-for-profit organization, such as a synagogue or a diocese. There are no special rules to file a lawsuit against this type of organization. However, you would proceed by filing a claim in civil court.
Premises Liability
Injuries occurring on school property is a type of premises liability. The person in charge of the property is responsible for specific injuries that occur on the property.
Some exceptions to a school’s liability are when the injuries occur outside of school hours or school events. As an example, if a student pushes your child off the school playground slide on a Saturday morning, resulting in your child’s injuries, the school is not liable. The school has no responsibility to supervise students on school property outside of school hours if it was not sponsoring an event at the time of the incident.
Roseville Personal Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a personal injury lawyer in Roseville. If your child has suffered injuries at school, and you believe it was caused by another student, staff, or the school, you may be eligible to pursue a personal injury claim. Call me for free, friendly legal advice at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400.
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