Remember recess, a brief respite where you and your friends could play outside? When I was a kid we had swings, monkey bars, slides and see-saws that we used on the playground. Occasionally I would fall and get a scrape or bruise and I learned pretty quickly what temperatures a steel slide can reach in the South Carolina sun - hot enough to raise blisters on the back of your legs before your brain realized what an idiot you were. I never suffered any serious injuries but some of my friends experienced broken bones or cuts that required stitches.
The common thread is that none of us - or our parents - ever had a thought that these injuries were anyone's fault but our own. In those days it was inconceivable to think that someone else was responsible for our own safety.
That is not the case today. As good example is in West Virginia where the Cabell County school system has decided to remove all swing sets from schools in order to avoid lawsuits. This decision came after one parent filed two separate lawsuits over minor injuries his two children suffered on the playground (that's right - the same parent in both lawsuits).
See the story here:
No comments:
Post a Comment