What should you do when a child injures your child? It goes without saying that it isn’t easy to be a parent, primarily due to the fact that one’s child is a constant source of worry and requires sustained supervision for close to two decades, which is by no means a small stretch of time. 

The list of parents’ anxieties is virtually inexhaustible, but we can all agree that nothing can surpass the idea of having their children injured, especially when they start attending school, where their personalities collide, perhaps for the first time, with those of other children.

This friction can make up for some concerning behaviour, including verbal bullying. In extreme cases, it can escalate into physical violence. Prevention is better than cure, that’s for sure, but prevention is a tricky business when you’re not in the place where it is needed. 

If you’re wondering what you could do in the case that your child is injured by another child, look no further than this. In the following, we’ll tell you everything you need to know should this happen, starting with a crucial piece of information. 

Governmental Immunity for Schools 

In the eventuality that your child will be injured – intentionally or not – by another child on school premises, your first thought as a parent would be to sue the school for all it’s got.

It might not mend the psychological trauma that the child has suffered, but at least you will be able to rest easy knowing that the person responsible will not be allowed to step foot in a school ever again. 

Filing a lawsuit is a reasonable measure and no one could make a case against it. However, there is a Catch-22 that you should be familiar with: you cannot sue the school unless your child’s injuries are a consequence of negligence on the part of the supervisors. 

Public schools benefit from governmental immunity, but this immunity is voided if there is sufficient proof that the occurrence resulted from the gross carelessness of the staff assigned to supervise the children during breaks.

This applies doubly to a situation where the supervisors not only did nothing to prevent violence but actually encouraged it. 

Immunity against a liability suit

Let us illustrate governmental immunity for public schools with two simple examples: since there seems to be no end in sight for the COVID-19 epidemic, let’s suppose that your child catches the virus from another child that attends the same school.

In this case, the school has immunity against a liability suit because the accident can in no way be attributed to negligence.

Now the second situation: your child is on the playground or in the lunchroom during lunch break and there are no supervisors in the area. Another child – who is known as a troublemaker – hits him without provocation.

When a Child Injures Your Child

The unit that your child attends is no longer immune to your lawsuit because the accident could’ve been easily prevented by the then-absent superintendents. 

In the same vein, if your child is injured by faulty or unsecured equipment, in this case, too, liability lawsuits can be successful, since the accident will have been the result of an employee’s lack of care, attention or both.  

Governmental immunity for schools is quite a complex and controversial topic and certain states are taking steps to, if not redefine it entirely, at least to restrict its reach.

Some even go as far as to consider it unlawful, another way for the government to wash its hands of what it sees as a nuisance.

Why You Should Seek Legal Counsel 

School liability is simple in theory but difficult in practice, and its clauses can and do differ from state to state. What’s more, there are states where the concept of school liability doesn’t exist at all – take, for instance, Illinois, Montana, New York, and Wisconsin, among many others. 

Filing a lawsuit based on the information you’ve read on the internet is by no means recommended, regardless of how knowledgeable you might think you’ve become on the topic. A personal injury lawyer is your best bet for a variety of reasons.  

First of all, a lawyer that specializes in personal injuries will most likely offer you a free consultation, so you will know right off the bat whether the lawsuit is worth pursuing or not.

That means that you won’t be wasting your time and resources on an enterprise that is doomed from the very start. An attorney has a precedent for this – you don’t. 

Lawsuits filed against schools

Second of all, lawsuits filed against schools are not exempt from a statute of limitations and these too can differ from state to state.

You’re bound to file a personal injury lawsuit in California within two years from the date of the occurrence, but not every state is so generous. As you can clearly see, school liability is a multi-faceted notion. You might wait until it’s too late without even knowing it.

Last but not least, skilled attorneys can find a way to bypass a school’s immunity by rummaging for previous instances of gross negligence that might have been swept under the rug by the superiors of the school.

All of it boils down to the fact that attorneys have the know-how that laymen and women do not – or else the Earth would’ve had a population made up of 100% lawyers, a horrifying prospect even to lawyers.  

Child Injures Your Child Final Remarks 

Having your child injured is harrowing and it lays a tremendous amount of guilt on the parents’ shoulders.

Children are impulsive and can exhibit an underestimated violence that to most adults would appear surreal, so the grounds of the school can be quite risky.

Not knowing what to do in case your child is hurt and refuses to go to school anymore will make you feel even more impotent than you did when you learned about what happened.

The silver lining is that a school’s governmental immunity is not set in stone and can easily be dispelled completely by a personal injury lawyer if there is plenty of proof of gross negligence or indifference.