There are few places as joyous for kids as the playground. It's a place to let loose, meet new friends, and burn off some energy. For parents, playgrounds are a safe place to let kids run wild and practice their social skills. Playgrounds are among the very last places you'd expect your child to suffer serious injuries. Unfortunately, playground injuries are more common than most people realize.
Schools with playgrounds have a legal obligation to mitigate dangers. The equipment and surrounding premises must be kept safe for visitors of all ages. Failure to meet this expectation and the odds of playground injuries increases dramatically. This puts the safety of children at risk, as they tend to be more susceptible to accidents and injuries than adults. If your child suffered injuries due to the negligence of the school, you might be entitled to compensation.
Playground Injury Statistics
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, more than 200,000 children under the age of 14 suffer injuries on playgrounds each year. More than 20,000 of these victims experience traumatic brain injuries. About 80 percent of playground injuries are caused by falls. Forty-five percent of injuries are severe, with children suffering fractures, dislocations, and amputations. Children between the ages of five and nine are at highest risk of injury, with most playground injuries occurring at school. Climbing equipment, like monkey bars and jungle gyms, are most frequently involved.
In some cases, playground injuries may be fatal. Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children died from playground-related injuries. Strangulation and falls are among the most deadly kinds of playground accidents. Playgrounds in low-income areas tend to be riskier in general, as they have rusty equipment, damaged fall surfaces, and significantly more trash than other playgrounds.
Common Causes of School Playground Accidents
It's hard to escape childhood without a few skinned knees and bumped elbows. School playground accident injuries are often far more serious than they seem, though. When school playground equipment is poorly maintained, they begin to deteriorate. This can lead to instability and decreased effectiveness of safety features. For instance, a brand-new jungle gym may feature strong handholds for easy gripping. Without proper maintenance, these handholds may degrade over time, causing children to slip and hurt themselves. This is especially true if the fall was from a great height.
Sometimes, school playground equipment can be hazardous even when it has been well-maintained. While modern safety standards are quite rigorous, manufacturer defects can slip through the cracks. Sharp edges, protruding nails, lack of padded mats, missing bolts or screws, and parts that don't fit well together can all lead to accidents. School playgrounds require safe layouts, too. When the design is not thoughtfully implemented, children may find themselves running into one another.
Poor landscaping can also contribute to playground accidents. Impact-absorbing materials like sand, rubber, and tiles can help soften the falls of little ones. When these materials aren't included in the design of the playground, injuries are bound to occur.
Inadequate supervision also plays a role in many school playground accidents. Children often lack the life skills required to judge whether an action is dangerous. They don't understand the risk of running too fast, jumping from great heights, or using the equipment before they're old enough. Parents, guardians, and teachers must keep a close eye on kids while they're on the playground. While supervision can't prevent every kind of playground injury, it can significantly lower the odds of an accident.
Injuries Associated With Playground Accidents
Emergency rooms across the nation see a wide range of playground injuries come through the door. The following injuries, ranging from mild to severe, are among the most common:
- Cuts and scrapes: Most playground injuries involve a few scratches and scrapes. Though these tend to be relatively minor, they can become infected when not properly treated. The unnecessary pain and trauma of being rushed to the ER can have a long-lasting impact on a child's development
- Broken bones: When a child trips, falls or runs into a piece of playground equipment, bones can fracture. Depending on the severity of the injury, a child may need to wear a cast for several weeks to repair the damage.
- Internal injuries: Internal damage is possible when the impact on a child's body is significant enough. Internal bleeding and organ damage aren't always obvious, which is why it's so important to seek medical attention after a serious playground accident.
- Brain and head injuries: When a child falls and hits their head, they may suffer a traumatic brain injury. Any time the brain bounces around within the skull, the fallout can be significant. This may include brain bleeds and brain damage.
- Spinal cord trauma: Serious playground accidents can lead to spinal cord damage and in some cases, paralysis.
- Strangulation: Accidental asphyxiation or strangulation can occur when a child gets tangled up in the ropes or strings of certain playground equipment.
This is far from a comprehensive list of the potential playground injuries a child may sustain. If your child has suffered injuries on the playground, it's important to seek medical attention immediately. While it can sometimes be challenging to tell the difference between minor injuries and more serious ones, a medical exam can provide clarity and reassurance. Be sure to document any appointments or treatments for your records.
Playground Safety Tips
Accidents happen. Still, there are some things parents can do to keep kids safe on the playground. The first time you visit a new playground, take some time to investigate any hidden dangers like protruding equipment or large rocks located near fall surfaces. Always supervise kids as they play, especially if they're younger than six. Accidents can happen in seconds, and looking away for even a moment can result in injuries.
Should you notice any playground hazards, report them to the school as soon as possible. Always be sure to remove necklaces, scarves, and drawstrings from your child before allowing them to play. Be sure the playground is age-appropriate before turning your child loose. If you have a smaller-than-average child, you may want to look for separate play areas designed for kids younger than five.
While these safety tips won't prevent every kind of playground accident, they can prepare parents to make important decisions for their kids. Teaching our little ones about playground safety is also a good idea. This will help keep them injury-free at school when parents aren't around to supervise.
Filing a Playground Accident Lawsuit
There are three main types of playground accident lawsuits:
- Product liability: Defective playground equipment leads to accidents. If your child sustained an injury because of defective equipment, you might have a claim against the manufacturer. They're responsible for producing safe playground equipment. That includes a duty to put warning labels on dangerous products or equipment. In a product liability suit, the plaintiff must prove that the product was indeed defective. You must demonstrate that because of the defect, your child sustained injuries.
- Premises liability: Playground accident claims may also be valid under premises liability. This legal term means that the owner of a particular playground acted negligently. Because of their negligence, a child was hurt.
- Negligent supervision: Teachers are required to protect children from danger at school. During the school day, the staff is acting “in loco parentis,” or “in place of the parents.” In this case, parents would need to show that the school agreed to look after their child but failed to take steps to ensure the child was safe.
Even if you're not sure which category your child's accident falls under, you may still have a viable case. While legal terminology and proceedings can be confusing, a qualified playground accident attorney can make the process easy to navigate. That's why it's important to seek out the advice of a lawyer as soon after the incident as possible
Damages for Injured Playground Accident Victims
Children may sustain serious injuries from school playground accidents. In some cases, these injuries result in lifelong disabilities or scarring. Depending on the severity of the injuries sustained, your family may seek the following possible damages in your claim:
- Medical expenses: This can include the cost of ambulance rides, surgeries, hospitalization, medications, and any ongoing therapies or treatments.
- Disability: When playground accidents cause lifelong injuries, your child may require the use of mobility aids. They may experience a loss of quality of life, too. Should your child become disabled as a result of their playground accident, you may sue for the financial hardship this disability has placed on your family.
- Lost income: Even the most minor of injuries may require parents to step away from the office to take care of their child. If your child becomes disabled, you may need to quit your job altogether. Parents can claim lost wages, commissions, bonuses, and lost future income in a lawsuit.
- Pain and suffering: The mental anguish and physical pain suffered by your child may have a big impact on them long-term. Parents, too, endure pain and suffering while watching their child in pain. This can be factored into your playground accident claim.
Identifying the Liable Parties
There may be multiple people or groups that are legally responsible for your child's injuries. For starters, the owner of the playground is required to provide a safe place for kids to play. In many cases, the owner of the playground is your child's school. If they fail to properly maintain their equipment or put up signs warning of potential risks, you may have enough evidence to prove they are liable.
The equipment manufacturer may also be at fault. If you received faulty equipment to use in your home playground, you might be able to file a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer.
Finally, the school or daycare staff may be sued for inadequate supervision. While no playground is 100 percent safe all the time, staff owe it to the children they oversee to supervise carefully. If you can prove that your child's teacher was negligent in supervising, they can be held legally responsible for the injuries sustained.
It's important to note that parents may also be partially responsible for their child's injuries. Defense parties will use this to fight their case. That's why it's so important to find a trusted playground accident attorney to seek justice on your behalf. Going it alone just isn't a smart idea.
How Joseph D. Lento Can Help
If your child suffered injuries on the playground at school, it's important to take swift action. Document injuries and keep records of any medical exams they undergo. You'll also want to reach out to an experienced playground accident attorney. While you might want to handle the situation on your own, you'll find yourself fighting an uphill battle. That's especially true if the incident occurred at a public school. Governmental immunity makes it challenging to bring a claim against schools, which is why it's so important to find an attorney to represent your best interests.
Attorney Joseph D. Lento and his Education Law Team can shed light on your options and chart the best course forward. No matter the circumstances that led to your child's injuries, the Lento Law Firm will do the due diligence to identify liable parties and hold them accountable. With your child's health on the line, there's no time to waste. Contact us today to recover compensation for your family's losses. Call 888.535.3686 or click here to get in touch now.
