Now that the school year is here, many Oklahoma parents won’t be able to supervise their children as they head back to class. They entrust the safety of their kids to the teachers and any other staff member that looks after the students on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, there are still plenty of hazards at school that could put your child in danger. Like most jobs or facilities, falling is one of the most common injuries for students. According to the CDC, emergency rooms throughout the U.S. treat around 8,000 children for fall-related injuries every day. One way parents could avoid their kid becoming one of those 8,000 children is by warning them about frequent places where other students fall down around the school.
The school bus
Many slip-and-fall accidents occur on the bus when a child tries moving to another seat or down the center aisle while the bus is still moving. Regardless of how strict the bus driver is with these students, warn your child not to do the same. Children are also at a high risk when they step on and off the bus given how tall the first step can be for them. Some bus drivers don’t pull close enough to the curb or have to carry an additional step for smaller students to use before getting on. Tell your kid not to rush boarding the bus and to use the handrails for additional support.
The entrance
The entrance can be chaotic at the beginning and end of the school day. Though many Oklahoma schools do offer various ways to enter and exit the building, there is always at least one entrance that dozens of kids are bound to use all at once. You should tell your kid to avoid other students acting disrespectfully and to watch out for others who may be in a rush to get to their classes. When there’s a high chance of rain or snow in the forecast, tell them to use any available mats near the entrance to dry their feet and tread carefully along the wet ground before and after they enter the building.
The stairs
During the wet days of the year, most of the students who don’t try to dry their shoes often take the stairs and make them slippery for everyone. Advise your children to use the handrails that are present and to follow the traffic flow properly during the busy hours. Unfortunately, sometimes a school’s lack of updates to the stairs can be problematic to the students. Some stairs have wobbly handrails that are difficult to grip, and some don’t even have handrails on both sides. Schools must keep these areas up to date if they want their students to navigate through the halls safely.
If your child suffers from a fall-related injury as a result of an Oklahoma school’s refusal to update certain premises to uphold safety standards, consider contacting a personal injury attorney to help you acquire compensation.