Liability
We live in an era when citizens have become increasingly assertive about prosecuting in courts of law to maintain their rights. In no area has this trend had greater visibility than in liability.
Doctors spend enormous amounts of money on malpractice insurance because of the number of suits brought against them suits in which patients try to hold them liable for alleged inappropriate or negligent practice of medical skills.
This era of liability has recently reached education and, more specifically, has affected physical education. Twenty-five years ago, it would have been fairly common to find a trampoline being used in a school gymnasium.
Today, it is almost impossible to find one in schools. Why? There are simply too many safety issues that might lead to liability litigation for the teacher and school to risk using the trampoline or to risk even having one in the facility.
This contemporary concern with liability has a strong, positive side. Doctors, lawyers, business persons, and teachers all tend to be more conscious of safety in what they do. They plan activities more carefully and check equipment more often.
They supervise activities more closely and more often make sure that students, clients, or patients are ready for whatever they might be asked to do. These are all benefits of this focus on liability.
There is a negative side also. Activities sometimes are not used because of perceived liability issues. Repelling and rock climbing, when done properly, are sage activities. Yet they are often not done because of the fear of liability.
Teachers are discouraged from being innovative with equipment because they are more likely to be held liable for an injury sustained of “home-made” equipment than for one acquired with manufactured equipment.
It is clear that liability has affected what is one, and how it is done, in physical education. In will be interesting to continue to monitor the influence of legal liability in the years ahead.
