10 year old ds nearly blinded by hockey stick - what to say to the school

[maverick1]

I've changed my name for this because I will be easily identifiable by anyone who is an Mnetter at my school - so would rather use a new name with no posting history attached to it.

Ds (Y6) was hit very near the eye by a hockey stick yesterday at school. He has a swollen black eye today and he had a cut which needed attention at A&E right next to his eye. The A&E doctor remarked upon how fortunate my son was that the hockey stick didn't actually get in his eye - the consequences would have been grave.

All is well that ends well you may think - except it isn't is it. This was a dangerous near miss. Ds tells me that his hockey game was being supervised by a teaching assistant (the games teacher was coaching another group in netball) and there had already by some high spirits and messing about during the game. The actual incident occurred when one boy took a swing at the ball and missed it, the hockey stick then travelling through to hit my ds who was defending at the time. I feel for the other boy - he was in floods of tears when I went to collect ds, and I really am not interested in a ' witch hunt' or blaming the other child....

I never really played much hockey at school so I am looking to all of you for advice about what safety precautions and preparation schools should put in when coaching and supervising hockey. I can't help but feel that perhaps they haven't drilled into the 10/ 11 year olds how potentially dangerous hockey sticks are and that the children aren't taking the matter of safety around hockey sticks sufficiently gravely? Also shouldn't there be a policy of 'one strike and your out'? - i.e. if there is any silliness on the hockey field rather than being warned the offending child should have to sit out the rest of the hockey practice / game?

I don't want to leave the matter here - I want to write to the school and ask them to carry out an investigation and produce a report making recommendations to prevent any future occurrences. What should I ask? How should I put it - your thoughts would be appreciated

[mrz]

I would be surprised if a primary school was using wooden sticks but a hard plastic stick can still give a nasty bruise.

[mrz]

BadgerB my cousin fell and broke his neck resulting in his death during a cross country run ...

[Shootthemoon]

Anything risks dangerous injury - scooting, cycling, running, being in a car, crossing the street, the stairs.

A team sport is a completely different experience than a cross country run - there are shared aims, a build up of play, shared disappointment and happiness. The potential for selfless decision making.

Worth it in my opinion.

[KatieKaye]

yes, hockey can be dangerous. As can cricket, rugby, football, scootering etc. It can also be great fun, great exercise, teach team work and discipline.

Very sorry your son got smacked in the face with a stick and glad the injury didn't actually endanger his eye. Agree the children should be briefed properly, the rule of "sticks" enforced and proper protective equipment used.

But "no" to using plastic sticks and balls once past a young age. I work near a Gaelic primary school and see the children out playing shinty (vaguely like hockey but with much more potential for injury) and they are all wearing helmets etc because the stick is allowed to go above shoulder height. There are shinty clubs where kids from P1 upwards play shinty there and use the proper sticks and balls.

Injuries have the potential to happen in almost any sport or activity. I managed to break a finger doing basket-weaving - more serious than any injury I sustained paying hockey! It's getting a sensible medium between reducing needless risk and making everything so restricted it's no longer actually hockey.

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

If we need to protect children to that extend what about risk of falls from wall bars and other gymnastics equipment, the climbing equipment in the school playground, the swimming pool?

[Thatssofunny]

We play with "proper" hockey sticks at primary school. However, only those children, who are participating in "hockey club" (which is only open to UKS2) are allowed to do so and they need to wear appropriate protection. I have 10 children for this and they are aware of the dangers. There's a lot of small-sided play going on to begin with. They usually only play "bigger" matches when doing fixtures, and these are very closely supervised. Accidents can happen in a range of sports, though...and even when children aren't doing sports. They might just trip over when running on the playground.
It's unfortunate that the accident happened, but it sounds very much like it was an accident. (I do put mine into time-out, if they mess about, though.)
In normal class sessions, the children are using plastic hockey sticks and soft hockey balls. I'd check with the school. Generally, I only know independent schools using proper hockey sticks and balls in lessons.

[BadgerB]

mrz - sorry to hear that, but it would, I think, be a rare occurrence compared to injuries in rugby or hockey.

I am not against children taking risks at all, but only if they want to do so.

As for the much fabled 'team spirit' - well, in my experience the keen sports types are likely to bully anyone who fails to help win. Or worse, can be accused us causing 'us' to lose.

Can you tell I have had 3 sports resistant boys....?

[BadgerB]

OP - tell the school that, had the injury permanently damaged your DC's eye, the subsequent court case would have permanently damaged their finances. That should concentrate their collective mind

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

If there was a court case it would be LA and insurance that would be footing the bill, not an individual school.

[itsaknockout]

tell the school that, had the injury permanently damaged your DC's eye, the subsequent court case would have permanently damaged their finances
no it wouldn't .only if the school had been negligent - which I don't think they were.Gum shields and shin pads are the normal protective gear and these wouldn't have helped your dc

[TalkinPeace]

Its school sport.
Kids get injured.
Its how they learn to play more carefully next time.

[5madthings]

Our kids play hockey at primary but with plastic sticks.

I think it was just one of those things, accidents happen. The school should be supervising and enforcing the not lifting the sticks head height rule but even so these things will happen.

My ds3 was nearly blinded in one eye by a piece of Lego!

[mrz]

How common do you think it is that primary school children are lose an eye due to school sport BadgerB?

[yongnian]

It is difficult with hockey. I was going in to tackle someone once (so bending quite low) - she raised her stick to clear the ball down the field with a good hard whack, but unfortunately missed and hit me full force in the face...to make matters worse, my glasses were completely smashed to bits, including being smashed into my eyes....it was an accident. There was no silliness, we were both playing within the rules...we were 10 or 11 perhaps.
A trip to A & E and lots of eye drops later and I did recover.
I carried on playing hockey, though thought more about how and when I tackled. I guess, similarly to rugby, there will always be accidents...some preventable...but some, like mine, not.

[diavlo]

It was an accident...they happen. Children can't be protected from all risk, much as we'd like to.

TLC for your son and move on.

[BadgerB]

mrz - I don't think it's common at all - thank God. But when Health and Safety are so solicitous about ridiculous things (conkers, snowballs) why should the risk of hockey and rugby injuries be not only acceptable but compulsory? The sacred 'team spirit' again, no doubt. Let's have a war so that we can all revel in the 'spirit of the blitz' eh! And. yes, that last sentence NOT serious.

[mrz]

Fortunately I imagine the chances of a child losing an eye playing hockey in a primary school games lesson is the same as the risk of a child breaking their neck during a school cross country run ... Very rare!

The Health and Safety Executive website has a section dedicated to myths. They mention the dangers of wrapping children in cotton wool to avoid risk.

[mrz]

www.hse.gov.uk/myth/nov08.pdf

[Panzee]

Mrz does your school not do Quicksticks? Wooden sticks and larger, lighter hockey balls.

[DoItTooJulia]

I think this is all very unfortunate, but I'm not sure how much the school can do to prevent accidents like this, even if it's supervised by a teacher.

I would be upset if this happened to my ds. But I'm not sure what I would do.

Plastic sticks and softer balls would make more sense to me with primary aged children. Perhaps talk to the school and see what they think. They might be concerned too, you never know. Nothing wrong with having a dialogue with the school.

Hope your DS makes a full recovery.

[DeWee]

Badger I remember someone at school breaking a leg in three places on a cross country run. They fell awkwardly racing at the last corner. They were told they'd limp for the rest of their life.

Cross country runs are also dead boring (or I thought so). So should unwilling kids be made to do them?

[BadgerB]

DeWee - no, children should not be made to do cross-country runs, but the advantage is the non-competative can take it easy, not annoy the stars by 'letting down the team', and avoid injury too. The keen-to-win would probably be in danger of injury in a game of tiddley winks. I used running as a, perhaps bad, example because I liked runs and hated team games.
Obviously kids must do some exercise but choice would be a good thing. Most primary age children I know get a lot of exercise running around with their mates. None are fat.

[SlowlorisIncognito]

I played hockey at school- in primary school we used plastic sticks and a lighter ball, but in secondary school we played it with proper sticks and balls. We did have to wear shin pads and gum shields though and we had rules about not raising the stick above waist height and not "tackling high".

I think the problem is, as other posters have said, that often when you are playing hockey your head can be quite low, which increases the risk of being hit in the face.

I think it is fair enough to make the school aware that the injury could have been much worse, but equally I think you have to accept all sport has the potential for injuries.

Also, I would much rather play hockey than run cross country- I despise running long distances! Every year at secondary school we were made to do a cross country run, and every year someone would sprain/break an ankle or hurt themselves somehow- and we all hated it.

[mrz]

No Panzee we don't play hockey at my school.

[DeWee]

BadgeB That is a very simplistic way of looking at cross country.

I am a very slow runner. I was last or next to last in any race done throughout school life. Only sport I can do is tennis, and that's because i played a lot.

However I hated cross country much more than things like hockey, neither of which I was any good at at all. I don't think I ever had a nasty comment about how slowly I ran, but I was very aware of it all the time, and nothing I did made it better. I felt bad if my friends ran with me, as I knew they would be further ahead without me, I felt bad if we ran separately as I was way behind them. I didn't want to be good at it, but I felt conspicuously bad. Whereas in a team game I felt less immediately obvious.

How do you suggest that at primary school they sort games? You seem to be saying that they give the form the option of cross country or a team sport. So what happens when you don't get enough to play the team sport? You're also assuming there's two teachers to teach them separately. Or is cross country (which, lets be honest, probably at primary level actually means running round the field mulitple times) able to be unsupervised?