Guard That Crossing!
This comes under the category “Now I’ve heard everything”.
According to the Daily Mail, at the Royal High School in Bath, England, schoolchildren as young as seven years old were left to negotiate their way across a street through busy traffic because their crossing guard called in sick.
The teachers and staff were instructed not to assist the children because they hadn’t received proper health and safety training.
Apparently, they can be entrusted to teach children and mold their minds but can’t be trusted to cross the street.
The bottom line is litigation, of course. The school doesn’t want to be sued if there is an accident. And I thought Americans were lawsuit-happy.
Lollipop police ban teachers from helping children to cross the road
I wonder exactly what training they need. I mean I am sure it looks easier to me the casual observer than it really is but you would think that they had at least one person trained to take over in the event of an absentee crossing guard. What would be worse than an untrained person doing it would be a bunch of kids getting hurt because no one filled in.
sheesh
By Janus on October 24th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
It’s like the premise that makes you more responsible for the mailman slipping on your sidewalk if you cleared the snow and ice but not well enough than you would be if you didn’t clear any of the snow away at all. Then it would still be in its natural hazard state.
I think the school felt that if a child was injured while being crossed by a member of the staff whose job was not to cross children, then the parents would sue the school.
If a child sent out on his own was injured, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t sue then too. It’s a world where the fear of litigation is greater than our sense of responsibility to act with common sense.
By Andrea on October 24th, 2006 at 11:05 pm