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Negligent Supervision: Recovering for the Personal Injury Your Child Suffered
There is nothing worse for a parent than watching his or her child suffer from the pain and healing process of a serious injury, especially one caused negligently by another party. As a parent, if someone negligently caused harm to your child, you can hold that individual responsible and accountable for his or her actions or inaction.
Unfortunately, many children fall victim to the negligent or reckless conduct of others. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the fall of 2014, across the United States, an estimated 54 million students were enrolled in private and public elementary and secondary schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nine million children under the age of 19 are treated for unintentional injuries at emergency rooms across the country. Likewise, over an estimated 225,000 are hospitalized for unintentional injuries while more than 9,000 children die each year due to unintentional injuries.
If your child suffered personal injuries due to the reckless or negligent conduct of another, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney who understands how difficult these situations are and who will provide you with the guidance you need through each step of the process.
Determining When School Employees Negligently Supervise Children
Negligent supervision is a theory of negligence. Negligent supervision occurs at a school when an employee of the school fails to exercise reasonable care in the monitoring of a child or children. When an employee fails to monitor a child or children, it could lead to numerous frightening outcomes, including accidents, abductions, serious injuries, and even death.
When any person or entity, such as a school, takes responsibility for taking care of your child while you are not present, depending on the circumstances of the case, you could hold the responsible party liable for any damages due to negligent supervision.
The most common types of negligent supervision cases involve:
- Improper supervision at a daycare facility, school or even church;
- When school employees overlook cases of bullying or harassment;
- When school employees overlook or ignore warning signs of sexual abuse; and
- When school employees fail to supervise a school event, party, gathering or field trip.
Proving Negligent Supervision in Schools
Negligent supervision, like any other negligent claim, requires the showing of a duty, a breach of that duty, proximate cause, and actual injury.
Schools, as educational institutions, have a duty to maintain a safe environment for the children that attend, including providing a high degree of supervision, according to the age and needs of the children. In determining if a teacher or school employee breached that duty, the court looks at whether that individual acted reasonably under the circumstances. When evaluating proximate cause, the court looks to see if prevention of your child’s injury was possible and foreseeable based on the circumstances. And actual injury means that your child suffered mental or physical harm.
Contact an Attorney
If your child suffered a personal injury at a public school, there are strict procedures according to Wisconsin law that need to be followed in order to bring a lawsuit against the school. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you might have to show that an exception applies to your child’s case.
As you can see, these cases can be very complex and it is essential that you contact an experienced Milwaukee personal injury attorney who can navigate Wisconsin law and help you get the compensation your child deserves.
