Is My Child's School Liable for Breaking His Arm at School?

Years ago, my daughter broke her arm when she fell off the monkey bars at school. It was painful and a pain in the neck but suing the school was not a road I wanted to follow. What would that teach my daughter about taking responsibility for herself & her own actions?

He was included with the kids playing so you see if was sort of his fault . he should not have been doing what he was doing with the other kids. Accidents happen. Let it go. It would have happened if there were only three kids on the playground. Life is too short.

The word is negligent. Not negligible. Negligible means small, insignificant, trifling. What you are asking is whether you should sue the school/your employer for what? To cover medical expenses? Pain and suffering? What is it you hope to gain from this? Do you have insurance? Is the insurance covering your medical bills? Honestly, you could go after them for what is left in your deductible, but you'll end up paying more in legal fees than you'll recover. If you're hoping to punish them or change their system, they've already changed it on their own and perhaps even punished the person who should have been giving better supervision. It's clear they see the error of their ways and since you have a good relationship with everyone there (and both your son attends and you work there) why would you want to spit in that well.

At no point in your post do you actually say what you hope to accomplish. The only advice I have is to consult an actual attorney instead of a bunch of moms, but no, in my opinion, whether or not the school was at fault, there's little I can see you gaining from pursuing legal action.

ETA: Oh for goodness sakes, Robin - a settlement?! I just broke my leg earlier this year and my medical expenses, from start to finish, were less than $1000, which I paid out of pocket because we have a ridiculously high deductible. Yes, it sucks, but I'm not sure what you people think happens in a court room, but a judge would laugh this out of the room. You can sue anyone you want for any reason, but suing is not winning. And settlements put in a trust are for serious cases involving large amounts of pain and suffering and long recoveries. A child with a broken arm will be on the mend and back on the playground in 6 weeks.

And by the way, yes, if the school rule is not to play tag on the slide and not to have more than one or two kids up there at a time, yes, they need to enforce it, but guess who violated that rule all on his own?

Yes, it was an accident. They happen all the time. Kids play. They often play in reckless ways (e.g., tag on the slide). Hopefully, they learn lessons when unfortunate things happen (e.g., broken bones).

And what on earth are "structured" activities on the playground? Unstructured play is how our kids learn.

The school did not "break" your child's arm. Unless a teacher walked up to him and snapped it in two!
Your kid got hurt on the playground.
It happens ALL THE TIME at school! How many of us have received phone calls that our kid fell, scraped a knee, hit their head, sprained a wrist...
I don't understand...there were 6 kids on the playground and that's too many? Mom, when he is in actual school there are WAY more kids on the playground then six. (I understand you are saying it was aftercare, I am just pointing out that during regular school hours many more kids are on the playground then 6....and there are usually only 2 or 3 playground supervisors for 100 kids)
That's what's wrong with our kids these days. You are teaching him that it's someone else's fault that he got hurt. Nope, it actually is his. He played with too many kids on a slide. natural consequences. Instead you should be saying to your kid, "So, Bob. Did you learn a lesson? Too many kids on a slide can cause accidents." Instead of trying to place blame on someone else.
Psh.
L.

Kids play. Kids play rough. Kids fall. Kids break bones. It happens.
Filing a lawsuit over this would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. You would lose more than you would gain. Let it go.

So… your child broke the rule and got hurt and you want to sue the school for… allowing him to break the rule? And now the kids aren't allowed to play on the playground for "unstructured playtime" (i.e., recess) and you want to sue the school?

It was an accident and you should count your blessings that only your child got hurt. If it was shown that he was up there and his presence created a situation in which other kids got hurt, you could be looking down the barrel of a lawsuit from another parent. And if I was another parent, I'd be pretty pissed that my kids' recess was revoked.

Nancy Grace has done the TV viewing public of this country a great disservice. This is NOT something you sue over.

Accidents happen. Unless you are out of pocket a decent amount of money over this I would let it be, and use it as a learning experience for your child about being responsible for his own safety even when it appears he can get away with being unsafe. After all in the end it was your child that was behaving in an unsafe matter and got himself hurt, he does need to accept some responsibility for that. By blaming the school I think you may be sending the message that his poor choice was not his fault.

For me, if I worked at the school, as long as the medical cost of the broken arm was covered, I would let it go.

Arms get broken, and they mend. You don't need to muddy the waters at your place of employment, and schools are financially burdened as it is. I don't think people should sue (if that's what you're thinking of) without very good cause.

no ones fault. an accident. but schools are doing things to avoid accidents.. so no one could possibly get hurt.. problem is. the kids don't get to play and be kids.. outdoor time should be unstructured.. if little ones sit in a classroom all day.. they need some time to run around and move.

kids get hurt all the time.. they fall off bikes, swings, slides trampolines..they break bones and get stitches... normal childhood stuff.

No, the school is not liable.
This could happen in a structured activity, too.

It happened to a friend's child @ dinner! He just fell off his chair (was sitting on his bottom, too) and cracked his arm up. The parent was not liable any more than the school is in this case.

I would not want a program that did not allow free play on the playground. That would be so sad for the kids, and unhealthy!

Even when, there are adequate playground adult supervisors watching the kids, accidents can happen.
And even if, ALL kids, are given school wide "instruction" on safety and proper use of school playground equipment.
Accidents can still happen.

Because of things like this... nationwide, some schools now, do not even allow kids to play tag or runaround... at recess. Why? Because, kids get hurt even if it is during typical play.
But parents don't like when/if their kid gets bumped or falls down during recess while playing due to other kids.
But then, parents also don't like, when recess activities, are restricted, for the kids.
So it is a very hard fence... to straddle. For the schools and for the supervisors who are responsible for supervising... so many kids.
Accidents can still happen.
And it is impossible to prevent.

Kids, EVEN if they know the rules full well, and even if there are playground Supervisors out there, do things they are not supposed to.

I work at a school. It is very hard, to control all kids, even with many adult eyes supervising. Even after school, kids are doing things they are not supposed to. Climbing the fence etc. throwing pebbles at other kids, etc. things happen in a SPLIT second.

The school your son attends, seems to be very candid about what happened and they are now restricting play time of the kids. And now, this has to be a school wide thing... your son's school restricting recess/play activities of all kids.
And thus, they would need to inform the school's students/parents. I would assume.

Also, the AFTER CARE person or organization, should be doing something about, properly training their supervisors. Many times, the school's after care program, is run by, a non-school organization. NOT the school, itself. But it is held on school property.
So what is the situation at your son's school per after school care?
Is the after care program, the SCHOOL"s program, or is it a non-school organization that does the program on school grounds? If is another entity that provides after care at, the school... then it is that organization... that is responsible, for its employees and rules.

Also, what did your child say about what happened?
How did it happen?
Even if there were adults eyes supervising, it still may have happened.
Especially if another kid was careless and/or pushed your kid off, and/or all the kids there were not following rules, even if they knew the rules.
As you said, the kids themselves admitted... that "there were more students out there on the playground then there should have been...."
And they, knew it. But they still did it.

I work at a school. EVERYDAY, on the playground, despite KNOWING the rules full well, the students... bunch up on the jungle gym and play tag there and bunch up in groups at the top of the slide. EVEN IF, there are... adult Supervisors there.... who are telling them to get off, it and stop it.
And the kids, don't listen, they do NOT listen.... even if you are blue in the face. But we can't touch or handle the kids to get them off it, because then the kids will say that we "assaulted" them or were "mean" to them and they go home and complain to their parents. Then the parents get mad... that we don't let their child play.... at recess or whatever.

Accidents on the playground or at recess or after school happens.
Even if there are rules and adult school staff, everywhere on campus.
And even if kids know the rules, they do not always listen or do as told.
And/or other kids are rougher... and more boisterous, and then a kid on the sidelines may get hurt. MANY MANY scenarios, of this and how a kid gets hurt.

You work at that school so you know everyone there.
The school, is ALREADY doing something about it: they are restricting, play activity at school. Because of the accident your son had per that incident.
What else would you want? Are you going to sue, them?
All the kids, and the school are deeply affected by your son's accident.
And their playground play/recess/after-school play activities, are now, changed.
But they should ALSO, make sure the After School Organization at their school... has all personnel trained, and are abreast of that school's rules and by the Principal and per any legality etc.
I imagine, the other kids and parents will now wonder, why their playground/recess time activities, are now changed. From free play/unstructured time, to now, structured, play.

Come on.

lt is absolutely ridiculous that the kids can't play outdoors, on the playground equipment,unless it's 'structured' play on the playground; what is this world coming too.

The best thing to do in your situation is wrap your kids up in bubble wrap and don't forget the helmet.

So your child and other kids were playing on the slide which they should not have been and unfortunately your child was injured? Really, if you cut to the end that is what happened.

My daughter broke her hand at school twice. It was an accident. The kids were goofying around like they should not have been and poof. Was the teacher at fault for not watching? Sure, but guess what? That could have happened with me watching them. That is why they are called accidents.

I really don't see where the benefit is in suing the school district. You could ask them about paying some of the bills but honestly, your child was breaking the rules as well.

Yes this was an accident.

I'm sorry that happened to you son. Really, what would you do about it if it was neglect on their part? Would you be willing to transfer your son to another school and loose your job? They have already admitted that they were out ratio. Things like this happen at school sometimes. I also work at a school and this happened to a kid where he fell of the monkey bars and broke his arm back in October. So, if it was an accident or neglect, that won't really change the outcome that much. I think the school has already done what they can do to help your son and has taken the steps to make it a little safer on the playground. What else would you like them to do?

I would leave it alone. It sounds like they are taking immediate steps to ensure this situation won't happen again. It is very unfortunate that your son got hurt, but its possible that he could've gotten hurt even if there were less kids on the playground. I hope he feels better soon!

I agree that you need to clarify that the school did not break your son's arm. I wonder how old he is? That makes a difference in how I see this.

If your child is 7 or older, then I say it's his fault. He should have known better than to be up there with that many kids and should have known better than to be playing tag at the top of the slide.

If your child is under 7, then I think the school should shoulder some liability because they should have been supervised better.

Your child, just like everyone else, owes HIMSELF a duty of care. If he fails in that duty and gets hurt, he has to accept as least some of the responsibility.

It is an accident.

You can not say for certian if there were less kids there, that this would not have happen. You can not say for certian, if he was aked to come down or stop that action that he would have listened.

Kids are kids, everything they do can cause an injury some of the time, we take our chances and let them be kids.

I would consider it an accident and be satisfied as long as an adequate number of adults will be out with the kids in the future. I would be very very upset if unstructured play were forbidden in the future. This is hugely important to kids and should be continued.

Updated

I would consider it an accident and be satisfied as long as an adequate number of adults will be out with the kids in the future. I would be very very upset if unstructured play were forbidden in the future. This is hugely important to kids and should be continued.

You could certainly speak with a lawyer and see whether they think you have a case. I would consult with someone who has experience with personal injury and suits against the bd of ed, or whatever government agency is responsible for your schools.

BTW- Just because there has been an improvement, change in policy doesn't mean that there was negligence or fault in the first instance.

Best,
F. B.

Before you go and sue the school, I suggest that you ask about their insurance. They likely have something in their policy to cover the expenses of injuries like this and could cover the medical costs. Find out if you can contact them yourself and while you're on the phone with them suggest that you'd like to "settle out of court." ;-)

Yes, it's still an accident. No one caused this to happen on purpose. Yes, it sounds like the accident could've been prevented if there had been better supervision and structure. The school has made appropriate changes. They have been open with you, unfortunately to their own detriment.

So, what would be your goal in filing a lawsuit? Do you want money even tho the school has been honest with you and taken appropriate action to correct the situation? I see getting money as the only good thing to come out of a lawsuit. The negative outcomes would be that your son would probably need to change schools and you would have to find a different job. Filing a lawsuit would turn this situation into an adversarial situation. And, if you were to win, taking money from a cash strapped school district. Taking cash from a fund which gets money from taxpayers, of which you ars a part.

In my mind the purpose of a lawsuit is to force change and to pay the expenses inherent in the situation. The school district is covered by insurance. I urge you to talk with the district about their insurance paying his medical bills before considering a law suit.

Consult with an attorney about your options. An attorney is the only person who can accurately answer this question.

To answer your final question, it seems like the staff have some liability (though not major negligence or clear-cut liability, as accidents can happen even with full supervision). What are the implications of that liability for you, however? I'm a little unclear about what you are thinking about 'doing.' Without knowing that, it's harder to tell what advice would be helpful to you.

I guess that since you are wondering about liability, then you are thinking legal terms. Are you considering a lawsuit or in some way demanding the school pay for the medical expenses? If so, I would say you need to think very carefully about whether the money would be worth the other costs to you. If the school officials agree informally to cover the medical expenses and there is no public conflict or embarrassment for the school, then your working relationship might be fine. If it becomes a lawsuit, however, I doubt you will continue to have good relationships with everyone there, or be able to work there comfortable after winding up in court with them.

Here's a reason why I basically would be against you pursuing further action. The other reason to determine 'liability' and possibly involve authorities is to make the other party change their behavior, stop doing something wrong so that others won't get hurt. From what you have said, the administrators have already thought about what happened and have made changes that they feel will reduce the likelihood of it happening again (we can only make accidents LESS likely, not prevent them from ever happening). So, legal action isn't needed to accomplish that goal.

It looks to me like you would lose more than you gain by taking any further action (assuming that you have medical insurance and are not looking at paying thousands of dollars to treat your child's arm). However, that's one person's opinion... Good luck and I hope your youngster recovers fast.

What exactly are you looking for? They already admitted fault & are making changes. Your child was not traumatized I assume. Is it medical expenses? If not I suggest you let it go. What would be the point of suing? Sounds like a big waste of time and money to me.

I know I'm late to this thread, but I'm a lawyer (no longer practicing) and there's no way I would sue in this situation. First, the fact that the principal made changes after the accident cannot be used against them. It is called "subsequent remedial measures" and the theory is that you don't want to discourage people, companies, etc. from learning from problems and making safety corrections or changes. Second, I wouldn't want to hurt your "positive relationship" and job position at the school. I would use that positive relationship to inquire about school or daycare insurance (is it run by the school? Here, after school care is often administered by the local YMCA) or other non-litigation ways to have your out of pocket expenses covered. Finally, although there were too many kids on the playground and definitely too many kids on the slide, kids will be kids and yes I would consider this mostly just an accident. I hope your son makes a full recovery.

It depends on what would you want to hold them liable for. Are you facing large medical bills because of this and would like to have them paid for? If so, then you would have to file some kind of formal complaint so that they can be determined to be responsible and their insurance company would cover your bills. Otherwise there is probably something in the after-school program's contract that you signed that says that they are not responsible for injuries so you would have to show true negligence for things to be covered by the school's insurance.

If you just want them to change their policies and procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again, it seems that they have already taken those steps so that mission is already accomplished.

In either case, make sure that they followed procedures for filing an accident report (sometimes there is a limited number of days that they have to file one if it ends up being an insurance issue) so that this is on record and that way, if this kind of thing happens again, there will be a pattern of negligence.

Really, it sounds like an accident that everyone can learn from. Unless you have terrible insurance and this is costing you a ton of money in medical bills, I would just review the report, make sure it's filed with whoever it needs to be filed with and then let it go.

It sounds like the school has taken great action to make sure this does not happen again. The fact that they did this and you work there, then I would not pursue anything legal. My opinion is "technically" they are liable for "something". Since there were 6 kids playing tag at the top of a slide, "someone" should have caught that quickly and put a stop to it. However, they didn't, for whatever reason, and your son broke his arm. Yes its an accident. But you have put the school in care of your child so to a point, they are responsible for his well being. If you have insurance and you can reasonably afford his medical care, then I wouldn't do anything and be glad they are now aware of how they need to tighten up on watching the kids during play time. However, if it was some kind of major injury like brain damage that would be ongoing medical care, then yes, I probably would pursue it legally. JMO. Good luck.

What does the school rights and responsibilities booklet say?

Do you have insurance? I would presume so since you work at the school.

What are you looking for? You take this to court, you might have ill-will.

It sounds like everyone was to blame in this instance.
Do you mean to say the school was negligent or they are in "small part" responsible? As negligible means a quantity so small it can be ignored....

Your child was not paying attention to the rules. As were other kids...the teacher had too many kids...the school didn't have enough supervision...responsibility goes all around...

I would make sure my insurance covers it and teach my child to follow the rules....even if they are having fun....

My daughter had her thumb broken last fall because someone pushed her in line. I was PISSED but did not sue the school. Our insurance covered it and I had a nice long chat with the principal about how they were monitoring the kids, and moved on.

I'm willing to be that your son knows he should not have been on the slide with other kids either, so unfortunately some of the blame would fall on him.

Sounds like the school is aware of the mistakes they made and are taking steps to correct them / prevent future problems.

I am really sorry your son's arm is broken - I know it hurts and is not fun on so many levels.

I have almost the same situation. My son broke his arm at recess "on the monkey bars", both bones, bones basically at a 90 degree angle...so close to being a compound fracture. The school handled everything right after, called an ambulance, called us, etc.

When I finally learned what happened, my son was jumping off a high gymnastics bar towards the monkey bars and missed, landing on his arm.

Should he have been allowed to be doing this? Heck no. But the playground is so full of kids that it was an accident. Do I wish that an aide would have told them to stop, of course. But they cannot see everything, just as I cannot keep my kids safe at all times when they are home.

Who did I give a talking to about this? My son....because he was the one to do something so unsafe. He is in 3rd grade and knows that it was not a good idea. He was just 'doing what Johnny was doing and he did it three times before without falling'. He has sure learned a lesson, as he is much more cautious now!

Accidents happen, and it was bound to happen with my son (he is kind of accident prone). I am just so thankful it didn't happen at home as I think I would have thrown up seeing his arm in that position. And I am so very very thankful that he was fixable....he was inches away from hitting his head on a post too which would be a much worse situation.

I have to say that it sounds like in your situation there is more than their fair share of accidents....so I would definitely take it up with the school. But I agree, legal action is not warranted in this case. I think it is sad thought that the principal is taking away all unstructured play time. There should be rules set now, but this all or nothing is no way to solve this.

Good luck and I hope he heals up really fast and pain free!!

What's your plan? It's still an accident whether supervised or not; however, the school has some liability in that there was not proper supervision. Do you want to sue? Do you want to ask for medical bills paid for? It seems like they are taking action to avoid it in the future. But unless you want to pursue this legally (which a lawyer will take at least 1/3 of the settlement) it may not be worth it.

You know, it might be worth consulting with an atty. on this one. Just go into it being aware that individual plaintiffs usually don't get much, in the end, from personal injury suits, unless death or serious dismemberment occurs. So there's often a lot of bad blood and a relatively minimal financial payout. I'm not saying not to sue, though; I'm saying to go into it with your eyes open.

The school should absolutely have insurance to cover this type of incident. In fact, they are very likely mandated by law to have a policy for exactly this type of accident. I am surprised that their insurance company has not contacted you yet. There is a difference between making an insurance claim and filing a lawsuit. You can try working with their insurance company before you look at filing a suit. You may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer first, just to get all of your options. If your child's injury is covered under the existing insurance policy (of the school, the school board, the aftercare program, any company that owns or leases the building, the builders/installers/manufacturers of the playground equipment...there are a lot of avenues to be aware of), then the insurance company/ies legally and contractually should cover things like medical bills.
If you are looking for millions of dollars in a lawsuit, that is probably unrealistic. If you hope to get your son's medical bills covered, that is quite reasonable. If your son was playing at a friend's house, the parents' home owner's insurance would cover the injury. It doesn't make you bad or greedy to make a reasonable insurance claim.

I'd call my insurance agent and ask them. When my daughter broke her arm at a class they were in no way responsible. I was the one responsible for watching her. She wasn't doing anything wrong, she just twisted the wrong way.

The kiddo had state medicaid and they tried to sue the facility. I told them that she was not in class and that I was the person watching her. They finally dropped the suit and paid the bill themselves.

So if your insurance company gets a claim they may choose to file a lawsuit for the cost of the bill in her name without you even knowing.

They should tell you if it's an accident that should be investigated and a claim filed against them.