DD2 injury after barefoot pe very angry

[raphaelbutler]

hi my dd2 was doin a pe lesson which should have been done outside because it was high impact it was done inside - mayb raining. they did it barefoot on a hard floor without mats. they had to do various activities for a minute at a time and write down how they felt when she did bunny hops she wrote my feet are hurtin when she got to star jumps she wrote my feet are really achin. from that day 7months ago she has been in chronic pain in the balls of both feet. she had damaged her sesamoid bones and the growth plate in both foot. when i saw dd2 head she said mayb dd2 had a preexisting condition she has had an mri and they have said its an impact injury. she is unable to walk far and it has made our life completley different - it breaks my heart i feel the school is totally responsible. what mum would tell their dd to go outside and jump on the concrete for minutes at a time - any comments

This thread is rather odd and a bit insensitive.People trying to argue that it is perfectly safe to expect kids to do starjumps on a hard serfuce

• when the OPs poor daughter is living testament that it isn't !!

and how has that been demonstrated, katiestar? the burden of evidence, when kids all over the country are bouncing up and down in gym halls with bare feet every day without incident, is that it is safe. unless the consultant has said something different, which i think seeker has asked a couple of times.

and did you give your child the mmr, btw?

I think with regards to any PE children should be taught to listen to their bodies. If an activity causes them pain they should be allowed/ advised to stop straight away, tell the teacher where it hurts and maybe seek medical attention before serious damage occurs.

I agree with seeker and aitch.

Has the consultant conclusively ruled out the possibility that before the PE session there was a lurking, undiagnosed anomaly/problem that the PE then accentuated? I'm thinking, for comparison, of all those people who walk around quite happily with healed fractures which they only discover years later when they're x-rayed for something else - the damage was there, undetected, all along.

If I have read this thread correctly, the consultant has ruled out a pre-existing condition.

The OP's dd was fine before the PE lesson and in pain during it and ever since, and investigations have shown longterm damage. To me, that would seem to be pretty good evidence to suggest that the damage happened during the lesson.

My question would be whether the OP's dd told the teacher during the lesson that the exercises were making her feet painful. Teachers aren't mindreaders, and presumeably the teacher wasn't reading each child's comments after each set of exercises - I wouldn't think she'd have time.

To be honest, though, the lesson doesn't sound to have been risky or unreasonable, even though the outcome for the OP's dd has been so painful. It sounds like it was a very rare outcome that the teacher couldn't have predicted.

It just sounds like it's one of those freak accidents. From what the OP says it was just 2 minutes of excercise that has caused it.
In this day and age of health and safety if bare foot pe was dangerous to the feet then it would have been banned a long time ago, a quick look on the internet it actually appears to be considered safer practise than with shoes.
FWIW my dcs were never allowed to have trainers in primary school, it was plimsolls only.

I have had sesamoid problems and it is really painful, like the big toe joint on the ball of the feet is being ripped apart, so OP's daughter really does have my sympathy

The pediatric othapedic surgeon has said this is an impact injury caused through repetitive impact on a hard surface. DD2 was a healthy 8 year old before the class. I am surprised with the animosity to this thread and and I thank all those that have shown compassion towards a child who is in chronic pain. young children's bones develop from 8 -14 and calcify before this they are soft and more liable to damage (consultant) It is an issue that this type of activity is done barefoot. I have not said all activity - just high impact. I cant believe..... seems to be a popular comment and everybody is entitled to their opinion but for what purpose would I be writing this. It has been confirmed by her consultant that this was the cause of her injury - and it is an injury not a pre existing condition. I am not challenging the teacher or blaming them or taking legal action I am questioning the procedures in place and who decides what is and what is not suitable activity. If this activity had been deemed high impact and then done with foot protection she would not have these issues. It cant just be swept under the carpet because it is a school. We all deserve health and safety protection even children.

Thank you for confirming what the consultant said.

Believe me, I do feel compassion for your daughter. I have joint problems in my feet and am never pain-free, so I do know what it can be like.

But even so, I tend to agree with those posters who have suggested that this was not a reckless or untoward activity - thousands of children do PE in bare feet every day - and it would probably pass any risk assessment (except one that was so ultra-cautious that no child would ever do PE of any sort ever again). Talk of suing (which I know didn't originate with you) seems inappropriate.

yes bare feet for dance, movement gymnastics but how many do high impact in barefeet. How many adults would go to the gym (though floors are suspended) and do 1/2 class barefeet with high impact. children do do pe throughout the country barefoot but I would again question how many do a high impact class.

How can star jumps and bunny hops be considered high impact?

i think every single one of us has said how awful it is that your child is in pain, and have not observed any animosity.

raphael you're the one who says you're very angry, what is it that you hope to achieve? do you think all children shoudl be banned from doing barefoot PE? if so, where is the evidence that this is more than a tragic one-off? and why does the consultant think no-one else in the class was injured similarly? does he think that it should be banned? i would have thought a letter from him to the head would carry some weight.

agree with the pp who said that we should be teaching our children to respond to their bodies.

thank you for all your comments particularly those that realised that my dd2 now has chronic pain and it is a struggle. Sesamoditis and damage to a childs growth plate is a painful and debilitating condition. Ive just looked at my last post and realised that for some reason Im trying to defend or prove that my daughter hurt herself and that I want procedures in place so that it doesnt happen to another child. Im sorry but its too draining to defend in each post. I appreciate there are points of view but other than my title who was I attacking. I said I am not blaming the teachers but the procedures in place. Best wishes to all those that took the time to put themselves in my shoes x

we have ALL said that it sounds awful, raphael, with the greatest respect we just want to know what it is that you want to do about it.

I have a great deal of sympathy with the OP.

My sister had terrible recurrent problems with her feet during PE right through school. The PE teachers were useless about letting her rest when she was in pain or due to do an activity (eg running) that she shouldn't have been doing; in the end, my mother got a doctor to withdraw her from all sport entirely because the PE teachers refused to take any account of my sister's pain.

OP - I don't think anyone has tried to deny that your daughter now has severe pain in her feet.

The questions have been whether - seeing that thousands of children do barefoot PE every week without mishap - the injury was caused by the PE (your consultant says that it was), whether it should be regarded as a very unhappy accident or whether (on the other hand) it was the result of negligence by the school and whether (as you seem to imply) no child should do barefoot PE ever again. It seemed particularly inappropriate when someone (not you, granted) suggested suing.

Now, I think this is a rare and freak accident. If I heard of dozens of children with debilitating foot pain as the result of barefoot PE I would think differently. I do sympathise with your daughter who has to live with the consequences.

You take a different view of the situation - as is your right. But if you try to demand that the school guarantees that your child will never in any circumstances be hurt on school premises, you will be disappointed. The school can manage risk and do everything possible to reduce it to reasonable and acceptable levels but it can't eliminate it completely. How do you feel, for example, about your dd playing on a tarmac playground?

I have not said in any of my posts that children should be banned from barefoot pe just that if it is a lesson where there is high impact netball, football, cicuit training that it is done with adequate footwear ie trainers. I have again never said that I demand the school manage every risk but pe is a set lesson every week it is not inconcievable for schools to have a policy on where a pe lesson should be held or with or without trainers/plimsoles. The risk wasnt mangaged. Why would I have any problem with my dd2 playing on a tarmac playground if she were wearing shoes but unfortunately she is unable to play or run around now. I have been asked if my dds have had the mmr. why?

bonsoiranna is your sis ok now x

no no, you weren't, sorry raphael. i was asking katiestar.

so you want circuit training done in shoes? that does not seem at all unreasonable, surely? does the school have a policy to declare otherwise? and has the consultant written to the head?

"what mum would tell their dd to go outside and jump on the concrete for minutes at a time"

Errrr ..me? Well I wouldn't tell them to so much as not stop them. Feet should be able to cope with a bit of unshod jumping.
However she should have explained how much it hurt and stopped. The teacher couldn't have forseen the damage IMO.

Poor DD though. I have tendonitis in both feet and it is horrible.

Aitch - what are you asking me ??

I am not saying barefoot PE should not be done , just that high impact stuff on a solid floor should be done with some form of shock absorption , such as trainers or suitable matting.

OP - This is where we take a different view.

I think the risk was managed but there's a difference between managing a risk and eliminating it altogether. This week, there will be thousands of children doing bunny hops and star jumps without shoes. It is unlikely that any of them will damage the soles of their feet. So, the risk has been kept within manageable levels. But it hasn't been eliminated entirely, as your unlucky dd has shown. You imply (even if you haven't used these actual words) that wearing trainers will eliminate the risk completely. Maybe it will. But maybe it will introduce a new sort of risk, when a child trips over an undone shoe lace or accidentally kicks another child. If you want to persuade the school to have a policy (if it doesn't already have one) on what footwear is worn for which activity, then go for it.

I ask about the tarmac playground because every time our children go out to play on the playground we have to accept that, however carefully the play is supervised, there is a chance that they will fall over and knock their teeth out. There is nothing we can do to ensure that they never fall over, unless we insist that they spend playtime sitting on the bench. I think there are parallels here.

I hope your daughter makes a full recovery.

And madbad, there are many who maintain that using trainers encourages unnatural foot 'posture' and can cause problems in later life.

claudialyman thank you I hope your dc is ok. Your post was exactly how I felt/feel. I do think guidelines should be in place and will see if I can make somebody listen somewhere just not sure who. x Katiestar thank you too x