Negligent Supervision of Children

Author: Attorney Dennis Schaefer

Our most precious possessions are our children. All too often we can be deceived by others into thinking their safety is paramount when someone else is supervising them. Like most businesses child care, day care or aftercare programs are run for profit. If the motivation for profit is greater than the motivation for safety it could cause a dangerous situation for your child. All child care programs have to have a very low ratio of students to teachers or supervisors. Children need to be carefully watched or accidents are very likely to occur.

Dell & Schaefer’s minor client is 4 and ½ year old girl. She was left at a church run day care program by her mother. On the day of her accident all of the children were brought inside a room in the church because it was raining outside. The children were running around the room, climbing over moveable chairs that were already in the room. The supervision was poor. There was far too many children for the number of adults watching. Our client, following older children around, attempted to climb over a chair and fell. She did extensive damage to her teeth and gums. Unfortunately because of her age the full extent of the injury will not be known for years.

Dell & Schaefer made a demand on the insurance company for the day care program. Included in the demand were medical expenses past and present. Additionally, a large demand was made for expected dental issues in the future. A demand was also made for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and disfigurement.

What our clients and friends need to learn from this case is to be very careful when choosing a day care program for your children. Make sure among many other things that the ratio of students to teachers is very low. The best way to insure our children’s safety in these types of programs is to ask a lot of questions and make sure the answers are accurate.