Important Information for School Accident Victims

When a parent sends a child of to school, the primary concern should be whether or not the child is getting an education. Worrying about whether or not the child will be safe while he or she is attending class should not be an issue.

Unfortunately, accidents are a constant occurrence everywhere, and schools are no exception. The question that should be asked if your child is injured while at school is “Could the accident have been avoided?”

Teachers and school administrators are responsible for more than your child’s education. Since they are in charge of your children for six hours a day, teachers and school administrators are responsible for their safety as well.

If your child has been injured while at school, you may have justifiable grounds for suing the school for damages such as medical expenses and pain and suffering. Again, schools have a duty to take reasonable care of your children while they are on school grounds during school hours. An injury that occurred because they failed to do so is grounds for a lawsuit.

One factor that has to be considered is the age of the child. For instance, the standard of care for younger children (say at an elementary school) would be much higher the standard of care for students that go to a middle school or a high school.

The parents of the victim of a school related injury can still consider legal action if the accident was partially the fault of the child. The smartest thing that you can do is contact a qualified and experienced injury attorney.

In order to determine whether or not there are real grounds for damages, the circumstances of the injury need to be carefully examined. In order to successfully determine whether or not the school was liable for the injury, the “careful father” standard has to be applied. This assumes that the school in question (or really any school) would act in the same way that a concerned and conscientious parent would. This means that if a school administrator or teacher fails to see the risk of injury or danger to the students in a given situation, he or she is not acting as a careful father would. A similar circumstance would be if the school administrator or teacher saw potential danger to the students yet did nothing to remedy the situation, he or she is again not acting as a careful father would. These are both circumstance in which if a student is injured then the parents of the child would be within their rights to sue for damages.

For instance, if a teacher is working with chemicals in a science class and doesn’t fully brief his or her students on the potential risks, which leads to the child getting burned or otherwise injured, then the teacher is not exercising his responsibility as a careful guardian of his students.

Schools are also required to exercise responsible care even after school hours. Children should be monitored even after classes are let out and they are waiting to be picked up. If a child is abducted while still on school grounds or while waiting for a parent or guardian to pick them up, then the school has failed in its responsibilities to protect the child.

Nobody wants their children to get injured anywhere, much less at school. But a school related injury is perhaps the most frustrating kind for a parent to deal with because they send their child to school with the expectation that he or she will be safe. If you or a loved one has a child who has suffered an injury at school in the Miami area, contact Klemick and Gampel for a free legal consultation today.