There is no worse phone to receive than one from your son or daughter’s school administration telling you that they have been seriously hurt in an accident. Teachers and other school administrators are supposed to do everything they can to make sure your child is carefully looked after. Yet there are 6 common accidents that can occur at your child’s school that result in them getting injured which include:
- Bullying/assault
- Slip and fall accidents
- School bus traffic accidents
- Playground injuries
- Sports-related injuries
- Food poisoning during lunch
It is important to dive a bit deeper and learn the full extent of how these accidents could occur and how you can seek justice for what was done to your kid. Teachers and school administration agree to not only watch over their children while they are learning but to also protect them. Failure to do so can be constituted as negligence and an experienced child injury lawyer from Shelly Leeke can help you form a winning lawsuit against the school district.
Bullying and Assault
No kid should have to feel overwhelming amounts of anxiety when walking through the front doors of their school due to having to interact with a bully, yet this happens all too much. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in its latest year of reporting, it was found that 1 in 5 American students suffer from intense bullying and harassment, and 6% of those bullied suffered physical injuries from their bullies.
Of course, a school cannot take action against every little incident of bullying because of how prevalent it is. However, school administration should punish a kid (or group of kids) who continuously harms other children, like your son or daughter. Failure to take appropriate action against the aggressor who was a known troublemaker, could warrant a child neglect lawsuit. Plus, the school district can be found guilty of child negligence if they were improperly supervising the children at the time of the assault.
Slip-and-Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere and anytime. But, a school that fails to take proper precautions against well-known dangers can be found liable for child neglect and child endangerment. The most common areas for these slips, falls, and trips to occur are crowded hallways, slippery bathrooms, winding staircases, and dangerous playgrounds outside.
For example, on any given rainy day, a child can slip on a wet hallway floor and suffer a concussion. The school district can be found responsible for child endangerment if the administration did not follow proper procedures to ensure the children’s safety. That would include putting out a wet floor sign or sanctioning off that specific area to try to mop up the rain leaking into the building.
School Bus-Related Traffic Accidents
Any motor vehicle accident is capable of resulting in serious injury, or even death. This is especially true for large and powerful vehicles like school buses. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), there were approximately 127,800 school bus accident-related injuries reported over the last 10 years in the US. A school bus driver’s negligence on the roads can also lead them to be charged with child endangerment.
Lack of proper training and being distracted while driving are the main causes of these crashes, both of these reasons are grounds for a child endangerment lawsuit. Shelly Leeke can provide you with both a child injury lawyer and a truck accident lawyer to help fight for compensation and hold the driver and school district liable.
Injuries Sustained from the Playground
Recess is the most sacred time for any Pre-K to 5th-grade student. However, the fun can come to a grinding halt when your child seriously hurts themself on the playground. Kids can fall from climbing on top of a tall slide, run straight into a metal pole when chasing their friends around, or even cut themselves on broken and rusty playground equipment.
It is the job of the school district to maintain proper safety protocols on both the playground equipment and the rules for the children while at recess. Failure to oblige can result in a child endangerment lawsuit.
Teachers are also expected to maintain a watchful eye on the students. Teachers need to talk to or even discipline children who are misbehaving and not following the proper rules of recess. Otherwise, they can be found negligent in a court of law.
Injuries Related to Sports Activities
Sports, along with any high-intensity physical activity, always have the possibility of leading to severe injury for the players involved. Some sports even have a violent nature that is inherent to them like football, wrestling, or ice hockey.
This means that sports can lead to a greater risk of your child getting injured and that is exactly what the data from a safehome.org survey showed. In its latest year of reporting, 47% of Emergency Room visits from schools or daycare centers were related to sports injuries.
Yet again, a school district can be held criminally liable for child endangerment if the students were not properly supervised during the onset of the sports-related injury. Many school districts also have sports equipment that is too old and deteriorated to use. A school district can avoid a major child endangerment lawsuit if they simply allocated more funding toward updating the sports equipment the kids used and hire more people for the administrative team to properly supervise the children.
Food Poisoning from School Lunches
The last most common accident for your child to potentially sustain from going to school every Monday through Friday is related to food poisoning from their school lunches. It is the highest priority of any school’s cafeteria staff to ensure that the student’s breakfast and lunch items are properly stored and prepared. Failing to do so can result in a kid contracting food poisoning or even worse illnesses like salmonella and E.coli.
What to Do if Your Child Was Injured at School
The very first thing you should do if your son or daughter is seriously injured is contact emergency medical services. Once they have been tended to by a medical professional and their injuries treated, then it is time to start thinking about hiring a child injury lawyer to hold the school district and any other at-fault party accountable. Contact Shelly Leeke today to receive your free and confidential case evaluation.
