Advice on thinking about suing my child’s school.

[questio]

My primary aged child was in school, walked past an interactive white board which had extremely sharp edges and it sliced in between his fingers, resulting in him having to go to the ER and having it glued and steri stripped and now bandaged up. He’s an elite dancer with a huge show coming up in 10 days, he tried training the evening after the accident but his wound split back open and he had to have it redone. He has been told no dancing for at least two weeks while it heals, this has really upset him, the thought of not being able to participate in a dance show he’s been training 12 hours a week + for the last 4 months has really put a dampener on his spirit. I emailed and asked the school to see the risk assessment on this whiteboard as why is it in a kids classroom if it’s that sharp. I didn’t get a reply email but the head rang me instead, saying they have removed it from the class room and contacted the company it’s from to return it as they were not aware it had sharp edges underneath. She was very apologetic and said they now have put the old one from the library in its place which has been checked and no sharp edges or any way to be a risk to injury and hopes this has reassured me.
Im not one to think about suing, I’ve never claimed against anything before but I’m considering speaking to some one, as this should have never happened in the first place. I’ve worked in schools and we risk assessed every item in that classroom before hand.
Yes I’m aware making a claim will not make my child’s hand heal any quicker and able him to get on that stage to complete his dance routine, but I feel more should of been done to prevent this from occurring and now because of their negligence I’m out of pocket due to dance subs and any dance moms will understand how expensive dance costumes, theatre tickets and all else that comes with it will understand.

any thoughts

thats a tiny cut. it will heal enough in a few days. dance on. For gods sake we used to send kids his age to war. what sort of lesson is it if you have a minor cut you need bed rest for two weeks?

I personally wouldn't suit, accidents happen in life. I hate the litigious American culture.

Great post.

@questio your son will heal quickly, but training the next day was always going to be ambitious. Give it a few days, get him to train in different ways to keep the strength/flexibility up without raising the heartrate/bblood pressure. Give the wound a chance to heal.

Your child will probably be fine for the show, and even then if it's a bit leaky, he can strap it heavily. I note that there were only steri stitches, so it's a superficial wound.

Try to relax about this, your child is still very young, they have plenty of other opportunities coming their way if this doesn't work out.

Who applied the steri strips?

Accidents happen. Don’t agree with suing at all in this situation. The school has apologised what good will it do ? I can understand why you are upset though. Hope your son feels better soon.

My honest thoughts you wont like.

1. uk whats the bloody point accidents happen tell your child to be more careful.
   Its not a big deal things happen.

2. usa well most will sue anyone for anything for a few dollars.
   Ive see a few that would sue a dead dog.

Its ridiculous tbh.

Suing a primary school because your child cut his hand 🤣🤣

If you’re an American in the UK (because your conflicting use of “ER” and “Primary school” is confusing)
Then you need to stop being so American 🤣 we’re not insanely litigious in the uk, we accept that sometimes things are our fault and accidents happen 🤦🏻‍♀️

“Dance moms” 🤢

Just thinking of all my son’s rugby injuries and still getting on with life. It’s an accident.

I don’t know about the uk but I live in Ireland and plenty of people are suing left right and centre here too. Someone actually tried to sue a national park because they twisted their ankle hiking on a mountain. Luckily this was overturned but people are getting money for ridiculous things..lots of play centres have closed etc. it really spoils things for everyone else.

Op your acting as if his hands been chopped off get a grip.
Bed rest lol its a small cut no need for the drama.

YABVVVVVVVU

I hear you its everywhere all for the sake of a few quid and a court day.
Shameful.

Learn to pick your battles at the school.

This incident barely requires any thought or follow up. A lawsuit is for when a school consistently fails to meet your child’s needs and you have exhausted other avenues.

In reality, this would probably end up being paid by the insurers of the whiteboard manufacturer ultimately. But probably your kid would get £1000 quid maybe? It's up to you really.

Forget suing the school, your ds should not have been interfering with the whiteboard and they have been proactive in their response. Focus on whether he could still participate in the show, presumably the routines include acro etc but could be re choreographed to use his hands less, or he play a different role in the show. Dancers get injured all the time, it is a risk of the activity. You can still use the tickets to watch at least .

Schools have no money. You would literally be taking money away from the children, including your son! Teachers spend their own money on resources because there isn't enough in the school. Not to mention the time and stress taken for dealing with a lawsuit, that will take staff away from what they need to be doing for the children. Do not sue.

I’ve never heard of a risk assessment for every single piece of classroom furniture but schools will have health and safety inspections that come and check schools for safety and things like this. It’s clearly been missed as a potential hazard and sounds like it was a freak accident and the school took steps to stop it happening again so no I would not be thinking about suing.

You’re ridiculous 🙄

I say this with kindness… get a grip.

actually nope, wasn’t really with kindness 😂

Impressed the school removed it - pursuing would have stuck some gaffer tape orca bit of foam on the sharp bit.
Surely your argument is with the manufacturer.

You can't sue over loss of subscriptions to out of school activity. Total nonsense.

I think you're American.
This is a UK forum.
In the UK, we don't sue schools for a superficial cut to the hand that's a few inches long and will heal.

Or could be an AI post? - primary, ER, mom's....

Been an influx of late. I do miss real voices!

There's a photo of the injury though.
So I don't think AI.