Child Safety Warning Signs and School Liability

Those of us who are passionate about child safety have a vision. It’s a vision we share with concerned parents, educators, and especially the kids whom schools and other agencies that supervise children, such as daycare centers or community youth organizations, have a responsibility to protect.

It’s a vision where our public schools and agencies become safe havens for kids: warm, welcoming sanctuaries that foster an environment of teaching, learning, and positive socialization — and which wall off the threats and violence that are so pervasive in our society.

In my talks across the country and in court cases I’ve worked on, it’s clear that child safety in schools and other agencies has become a paramount public concern. That’s good news if shining a brighter light on the problem makes it easier to establish a mindset that ultimately makes things safer for kids.

The potential for increased awareness to protect our kids from harm couldn’t be more timely. More and more, news reports focus on critical problems proliferating in our schools: bullying, teachers having sex with students, and rapes and murders in schools. In other places, like daycare centers, childcare programs on cruise ships, and afterschool community programs, similar tragedies occur. The mentality that something “would never happen to us” can be tragically naïve — at odds with headlines about children dying on class trips, being hit by cars at poorly planned bus stops, beating up their teachers and other kids, and being sexually assaulted in the very programs that parents trust with their safety.

As an authority on school and agency safety and a child-supervision expert witness in high-profile cases around the country, I’ve rendered opinions in a variety of cases. In some, I have concluded that a school or agency breached the professional standard of care, ultimately leading to a child being harmed. In others, it was clear that a school or agency met the professional standard of care under the circumstances. In all, a common thread is that schools and agencies that seriously consider the safety of children are less likely to be held accountable for injury.

Here are several situations you can find in many schools, agencies, and afterschool programs — along with concerns that may be warning signs of trouble.

Situation: Take a walk through any public or private school during a change of class, go into the cafeteria at lunchtime, or stroll onto the playground during recess. What is your first impression? Is the school calm and orderly, or are students running, shouting, pushing, and shoving? Are teachers visibly present, standing at their classroom doors and directing students in the lunch line? Does the principal stand in plain view greeting the kids in the morning and helping them on their way?

Concerns: Student conduct outside of class is disorderly. On the playground, three aides huddle in one corner and talk while students throw rocks at each other at the other end of the yard. Several kids pick on a vulnerable student in the hallway, cafeteria, or on the playground but no adult intervenes.

Situation: Do teachers, afterschool program advisers, or coaches meet one-on-one with kids? What policies does the school or agency have in place regarding relationships and contact between adults and kids? Do employees and kids both understand the boundaries of their relationships? Does the school or agency have clear rules on sexual harassment?

Concerns: Staff and kids receive no meaningful training about interpersonal boundaries. No policies and procedures exist, or no monitoring takes place, with respect to staff members’ contact with children. Teachers, afterschool program advisers, or coaches meet with kids alone behind closed doors or drive students home. Students call teachers on their cellphones after school.

Situation: Are parents contacted when a teacher is planning a class trip? Are chaperones assigned? When planning a trip, does the teacher consider the students’ age and experience, any potential hazards, and the adult-to-student ratio? Did the supervisor review the trip with the chaperones and assign specific children to each? Has the principal or agency director reviewed the activity? Are emergency measures in place to allow for cellphone and radio contact between the person in charge on the trip and an official at the school or agency, the presence of a nurse, and special provisions for students who may be allergic to insect bites or certain foods?

Concerns: Children embark on trips without parental notice. The teacher or supervisor is unfamiliar with the site and its potential hazards. The teacher or supervisor is the trip’s sole chaperone. The nurse has not been contacted to consider the students’ safety or special needs.

Situation: Go out and observe the bus stops. Where are they? If the district operates or contracts for school buses, it must make bus stops safe. Do students have to cross a highway in the dark morning or evening hours to get to a bus stop? Is there a pedestrian crosswalk and other aids such as a traffic light or crossing guard to help students cross the street safely? Do students at a crowded bus stop push and shove one another close to the road? At the end of the day, do students need to pass between parked cars in the lot or street to get to their bus? Has a school official directly observed each bus stop to decide whether it’s safe? Can parents easily register concerns about their child’s bus stop assignment?

Concerns: Children must cross four-lane highways in the dark or walk between parked cars — making them less visible to drivers. The school or agency transportation coordinator assigns stops by consulting a map but never observes students at the location. The district does not have written criteria for how a bus stop will be located and how it can be changed. Parents are unaware that they can complain or ask questions about bus stops.

It is the responsibility of the principal — the school’s educational leader — to identify concerns and issues that might lead to the injury of children, get information from those who report them, assess the situation, make modifications, and protect the kids. At other agencies like a YMCA camp or an after school program, it is the responsibility of the program director to identify similar concerns and issues and act reasonably to protect children from harm.

Safety is something that should be at the top of every school and agency leader’s priority list. It requires open communication in a climate where everyone is aware of the need for child safety and where one individual is identified as the person who takes care of things. Remember, safety counts.