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

Don’t be ridiculous. Are you that hard up?

This things happen. Plus he had to been swinging his arms or something. It's not possible to simply walk by and get a cut where he is cut.

Agree with practically everyone.
It was an accident.
School have responded to it.
There is no reason to sue anyone.
Accidents happen sometimes.

I am also the mother of a dancer who couldn't attend her show last year I just had to suck it up.
I really think sueing the school for a cut is a overreaction.

My child lost the top of her finger in November when a teacher let go of a fire door by accident. She needed an operation and it’s black now because it didn’t reattach well. It’s gone from her top knuckle. Shes had to relearn how to write with it, and manage other daily tasks. Her gymnastics was out for the foreseeable future.

Could we have sued…. Probably. Should we? Questionable. It was an accident. The teacher concerned was traumatised herself. In 25 years she’s never had such an incident. Realistically I think litigation would have pushed her into early retirement removing a wonderful teacher.

The money we received would only have come out of the system leaving everyone even shorter.

I have another 7 years with this school to go, and do I want to be ‘that parent’.

So what we did instead was take the poor teacher a bunch of flowers and show her our child so she could see for herself that she was ok.

Then we asked what could be done to stop this happening again. Within 2 weeks all the doors had guards and sensors on them.

I’m satisfied.

This. You sounds like a great human being. What an example for your child too.

Much better way to respond to life @Rachie1973

@Rachie1973 you sound like a lovely human being - hugs to you, your daughter and her teacher

Firstly, he shouldn't have been messing round with the board.
Secondly.. elite dancer. Are you sure? Or does he just go to a dance class and you've decided he's a yet-to-be-discovered prodigy?

Er no…don’t be a twat

@aveenobambino @BBQPete @crackfoxy

thanks all. She’s our granddaughter, we have custody of her. Can’t post pics lol, would traumatise people. Wasn’t pretty though.

This is ill- informed nonsense. Putting to one side the merits of OP’s potential claim, schools have insurance for personal injury claims. The funds do not come out of money that would be spent on education.

If someone suffers a serious injury (I mean a different scenario to OP’s son) they should not be dissuaded from seeking compensation by misinformation such as this.

I've said it before, but suing the school will not mean less in the pot for the school, it will come from insurance.

I still don't agree, it was an accident and I believe preventable if the child hadn't been running his hands underneath the whiteboard. It doesn't even seem a particularly serious injury.

Edited to add, cross posted with @HotCrossBunplease

But insurance rates for schools will increase if they are sued more.

I am puzzled as to how dancing has opened up a wound between his fingers to be honest.

Also, what do you want to achieve by suing the school? They have told you that they have removed the sharp edged equipment and investigated as to why it was manufactured so. What more do you want?

She might sue you for slander

Please say there's a photo coming up in case people don't want to see it

This post perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with modern society. Absolutely no sense of responsibility for one's actions.

It's quite clear that your son was messing around with the white board. You don't walk past a white board and slice between your fingers.

You're quite clearly a drama llama whose precious son can do no wrong too... who describes their primary school child as an 'elite dancer'?? 🙄

No, you can't sue the school because your son was d1cking around and hurt himself. We're in the UK not the USA. You'll be laughed out of court. Grow up.

Surely it will increase the schools premiums? Which of course will cost the school forever. Insurance companies don't just hand out money without doing this.

Good lord lol. I wouldn’t post it with no warning!

There are many complex factors at play which influence premiums for this sort of liability insurance- it’s not like getting a higher renewal quote the year after you claim for a bump to your car. No individual should worry about effect on premiums as a result of an individual claim and it would take a huge shift in behaviour at population level to really shift the dial generally for placement of insurance by schools.

My authority for this: 20 years as a defence lawyer advising insurers and insured entities, including time spent working directly for an insurer. Also relative of someone who had to sue a public body for compensation after a catastrophic accident resulting in paraplegia.

@Moonlightstars

I would accept what the school have done and I'd be asking ds to be more careful where he's walking in future.

I would tape the fingers and let him dance anyway.

No I absolutely would not sue over this! Please don't be that parent.

Don't you have a massive vested interest in getting more people to sue? My public liability goes up at the charity I work for if we have a claim against us in the building. I don't see why a school would be any different.

OK, sure, you know best 🤷‍♀️. We are talking about procurement of insurance by public bodies, it’s a very complex area with specialist providers and brokers.

Also, there are extremely strict professional duties which would prevent a solicitor encouraging people to sue their clients, just to earn more fees. I resent what you are suggesting.

YABU.

And I have had a similar experience, my child injured themselves in an accident which could/should have been prevented by the school. They required emergency surgery and was expected to have life long damage. Never thought about suing.