Jeremy Hurd

School Law

Assignment #3

1-21-04

            The basis of this paper will focus upon the reading of “I’m Calling My Lawyer” by Jean Johnson and Ann Duffett.  I will focus on what I believe to be the two most relevant observations in this document and use my educational experience to reinforce my points of view.  The topic of litigation in this piece focuses on many of the fears that educators and administrators alike experience.

            First, I support Observation No. 1 in the article that states that for many teachers and principals, the possibility of being sued or being accused of physical or sexual abuse of a student is ever present in their minds.  I think that most students who are pursuing a teaching degree would think of this topic first when confronted with the topic of school law.  Frequently, you will hear the common saying that “Heck, you can’t even touch these kids anymore, you’ll get sued!”.  I think that in the back of every teachers mind is the concern that if any type of touch is presented to a student, that the touch may be unwarranted and that the possibility of making a student of theirs uncomfortable is the last thing that a teacher wants to deal with.  If a student were to take a pat on the back the wrong way, the teacher could be involved in a lawsuit.  I remember my student teaching experience in the elementary setting.  Many students from about K-2 would run up to my leg with their little three-foot bodies and hug as hard as they could.  As a natural reaction, I would gently embrace those students with a pat on the back and then release their grasp.  Did I think about the chance that I could get sued for touching those children?  Yes, I did think about it.  However, what is a teacher to do when the child initiates the contact?  I am sure that you could stand with your hands in the air and not hug back, but for some of those children, it is the only affection they will get all day.  I think that if a teacher acts with good intention and that the students initiate the contact, I think that parents would be less likely to be concerned.  If the teacher went up to ever kid to get a hug or excessive contact were displayed, then I think this is a problem.  Middle School to High School aged kids don’t require that type of contact because of social acceptance.  I would be very careful of doing that to any of my students for the fear of a lawsuit.  It is hard to get away from the fact that some people could really care less about you and your position.  They understand that they can sue for certain things, and many will try to get as much money as they can to compensate for your actions.  Is this a problem for teachers?  Yes, it is.  It causes an unbelievable amount of stress upon educators and administrators to “act appropriately” when around their students.  The fear of being sued and losing their jobs is a great burden on the heart of many in education. 

            The second observation that I would agree with is Observation #4 which deals with the issue of the threat of litigation often takes a personal toll on professional in education and can create enormous anxiety and anguish, sometimes enough to derail a career.  I myself am new to the teaching arena, only in my first year.  I myself could not imagine the stress, heartache, and anguish that an educator would go through if accused of something that they did not do.  Especially if the teacher felt they were innocent.  To deal with having a student feel that your actions caused them to report something to their parents that comes back to the school district, school board, and possible courtroom appearance would be devastating.  The Kobe Bryant case is a good example.  He has not yet been found guilty or innocent, yet through the media and publicity, people are talking about it.  The same could happen to a teacher.  The local news could break the story and the teacher’s face could end up being displayed on TV or in the newspaper.   Whether that person is found innocent or not, it could ruin their career forever.  Even if they were found innocent and it did go to trial, the teacher would be very nervous about returning to teaching and may also feel overwhelmed about the parent and local opinion of them still in the school.  I can’t begin to imagine how that would feel.  If something like that had happened to me, I would start to question if it was worth the effort, if I should either move on to something else, or if I should move school districts.  Then again, getting hired at another school may even be difficult due to the severity of the case.  Litigation does protect students who rightly accuse an individual who is clearly in the wrong.  I am for the protection of every students who has actually been harmed.  However, the career and lifetime achievement of a great teacher could be taken away by one false accusation and force that person to alter their life and career to avoid a situation like that from happening again.

            In conclusion, I think that litigation is something that everyone deals with on a daily basis.  Many situations such as car accidents, dog bites, product recall, malpractice, and many other issues revolve around litigation and a sue happy culture we live in.  Many see it as an easy way out of their financial troubles; others see it as a way of having justice for something that was done wrong to them.  In any matter, educators and administrators will continue to deal with issues of law as they pertain to education.  It is the duty of each individual to know the laws and to be conscious of what is going on around them.  In a perfect world, all the cases that involve litigation would be those that are not false accusations.  However, this is not realistic.  We must continue to provide students with a high quality education and protect ourselves by understanding the laws that are in place as they relate to our career.  As one superintendent put it in the article, “Litigation is not an issue that dominates our thinking, but it is something that is always in the back of our mind.”