Student Injury Liability Essay

The practice of education is increasingly being affected by the law, or more specifically, the lawsuits. The most likely reason a teacher or school will face legal action is due to alleged negligence; typically resultant of a student having been injured while under the school/ instructor’s protection. Although injuries can take place in a number of situations, injuries resulting from school laboratory or technical activities are especially prominent due to the nature of those classes and the dangerous chemicals, technologies, and tools in use. Most educators would like to believe that common sense and good judgment would keep them clear of a lawsuit, but in today’s litigious society, it is well known that anyone can be sued. Because of this fact, it has become imperative that professional …show more content…
In respect to how the duties of the teachers are viewed, in reference to tort law, their responsibility is in no way “different than that which rests generally on every member in society” (Seitz, 1971, p. 551), which means that in general, teachers should be vigilante in doing everything possible in order to identify, anticipate, and attempt to remedy hazardous situations that could lead to injury. Further, teachers are not only required to consider student acts, such as choosing to sprint down a crowded hallway, which could lead to a hard fall and a broken bone, teachers need to also be considering their own actions, such as driving too fast through a parking lot, or choosing to step outside their classroom to make a phone call. Since “courts recognize that pupils falls within the category of ‘neighbors’, teachers and administrators must have them in contemplation when they act or omit to act” (Seitz, 1971,