School PlaygroundThere are numerous legal notions which may determine liability when a child is injured in a playground accident.

Playground injuries can happen at public schools, private schools, daycares, city parks, and private homes. Many of these injuries are triggered by dangerous behavior by children or by unsafe equipment. If your child was really injured while playing on a playground, you may want to find out more about the legal concepts of premises liability and neglectful supervision of children, which might be used in a claim for injury reimbursement.

Premises Liability

Schools and other workers of playgrounds have a responsibility to protect children from predictable dangers on the premises. To bring a suit to make progress for a playground injury based on a premises liability theory, you must show that:

·        The defendant was in control of the property

·        The injured adolescent was the type of individual that the defendant could expect to be on the property.

·        The defendant did not exercise the proper amount of care

·        The child was injured in a predictable way, and

·        The defendant’s inattentiveness was a major reason of the child’s injury.

For example, in a situation where a child is injured on a school playground by a sharp metal slide, the school has authority over the playground area. The school expects students to play on the school playground equipment. To make the playground practically safe, the school expects students to play on the school playground equipment and repair any problems. If the school in question never examined the playground equipment, the school failed to implement a sensible amount of care. It would not be shocking that the equipment is a foreseeable danger. The school’s failure to find and fix the problem with the slide would be the major reason of the child’s injury.

Negligent Supervision of Children

When someone takes the responsibility of watching your child, that person could be accountable for harm that comes to your child because of lack of supervision. School teachers and staff have a heightened duty of care toward your child because they are acting in the place of parents at school. They must take sensible steps to avoid foreseeable harm to students. The school must have an effective organization of supervision in place to keep students safe. Other groups and individuals that agree to lookout for your children also have a responsibility to act with practical care to avoid injury to your children.

To sue for negligent supervision, you need to show that:

·        The defendant approves to supervise your child

·        The defendant did not accurately monitor your child, and

·        Your child was hurt because of the defendant.

One example of this kind of claim is where children at school are let out to play during recess without any supervision and a fight break out. If the fight intensifies and a child is pushed off a climber and breaks an arm, the school might be sued for neglectful supervision of the children. The school has the responsibility of monitoring the students. If a staff member had supervised the students during recess and stopped the fight, this occurrence likely would not have happened.

For a free consultation call D’Agostino and Associates at 1-888-24-LAW-24