While schools are currently closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, it’s important to consider how things will work when we eventually send our kids back. One of the biggest frustrations for many parents is when their child faces bullying from other kids.
When your child comes home from school with a significant injury, your first instinct may be bewilderment or confusion. You could be unsure about how to prevent further harm. However, there are legal ways to protect your family (and yourself) if need be:
Negligence
If a minor gets injured on school property, those in charge may get held liable. Lack of adult supervision on a playground or other common school area can lead to serious pain for a child. Physical attacks from another student fall under any teacher or other professional’s area of supervision.
However, not all instances of bullying arise because of negligence on the part of an official. Therefore, it is important to know who else may be liable.
Parental liability
When addressing the incident, the blame may fall on multiple people. Another child could be the one to harm your son or daughter, and the child’s parents may be responsible for any charges against their child.
If the child is underage, it is likely he or she will not bear the brunt of any consequences. In that case, his or her parents would be liable for damages. Older teens who act deliberately are more likely to face individual consequences without parental liability.
Multiple occurrences
The school employees may share part of the blame since they have a duty of care to the students attending class. If bullying happened previously, the proper amount of time to act on a threat of the offending student may get taken into account. If your child sustained injuries multiple times from another student, it can lead to a stronger case against the school.
If you’re worried about the bullying your child has been facing at school, talking to the attorneys at Anderson, Moschetti & Taffany, PLLC can be a good first step towards addressing the problem.