As a parent, you hope that your child will receive uttermost care at school. However, schools are not exempt from accidents. That means your child can encounter injuries, whether for reasons beyond anyone's control or the negligence of an individual. Naturally, handling such a case is emotionally overwhelming and financially straining. Therefore, engaging a personal injury lawyer and filing a lawsuit against the negligent party is invaluable. This article shares some valuable guidelines for parents dealing with school accident cases.

Common Causes of School Accidents

As earlier mentioned, an accident at school can occur without prior notice and affect any child. For example, accidents can occur due to slipping on wet floors, strenuous gym activities, and risky sports. Other sources of injuries among school children include physical fights with each other, natural disasters, and school bus collisions. Of course, some of these causes, such as natural disasters, are beyond the control of the school management. However, the others may point to negligence and prompt investigation. In that case, you'll need to work with a personal injury lawyer to get to the bottom of the matter. 

The Duty of the School towards the Child 

The school has a duty of care towards your child. Failure to meet this duty can create liability issues. For example, the school should do everything possible to minimize gym accidents. Therefore, if children have slipped, fallen, and sustained injured because the gym floor has a slippery material, you can sue for negligence.

Your lawyer will help you assess the conditions leading to the accident. They will also determine whether the school was upholding its duty of care to the child when the accident happened. Negligence could mean failing to fix a dangerous condition that led to an accident previously. It could also mean not supervising children while on school property.

The Damages to Ask for in Compensation

Like other personal injury lawsuits, you'll be eligible for compensation upon a successful claim. You may be compensated for medical expenses, mental health services, rehabilitation, pain, and suffering. You can also sue the school for wrongful death if your loved one loses their life from injuries sustained in school. But remember that you must provide proof that the school was reckless, and the negligence led to the child getting hurt.

Personal injury claims can be pretty complicated without professional guidance. Therefore, it's advisable to engage a lawyer when facing such a situation. They will offer you much-needed guidance so that you can find justice for your child.