Premises Liability and Suicide

It is tragic to read about the increase in suicides, especially amongst youths. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of premature deaths in America. The rise in school age children has been increasing dramatically over the last couple decades.

Questions about the cause of a minor’s decision to end their life point to the stability of their emotional state and how it could have been avoided. Determining factors such as household upbringing, chemical imbalances, and the pressure of growing up are factors but they do not paint the larger picture of the situation.

The truth is, every situation is different but it many suicides, the death could have avoided or easily prevented. If someone really does want to die, there are ways, but keeping those who might want to harm themselves clear from obvious dangers is the responsible thing to do.

When it comes to school age children harming themselves within school grounds there are liability concerns that can be brought against the school. Any harmful chemicals, weapons, and dangerous tools on the school campus should be guarded with extreme protection. Failing to do so could point to negligence on the school for allowing the access to such dangers.

If the school does not secure a location, such as a rooftop from the students being able to access it, this is the form of negligence. School children are faced with many overwhelming burdens such as the pressure to succeed and socialize.

A recent case from 2017, revealed a young boy committed suicide because of constant bullying he received from another student at the school. The school authorities were aware of the actions by the bullying student and even had video camera evidence of it but ignored the actions.

The victim student was knocked unconscious yet school authorities did not attempt to ensure the safety of the victim. This soon led to the victim student hanging himself at home. The death did not occur on school grounds but the school ignored the facts that caused the death.

It is the responsibility of the school or any premises owner to create a safe environment for those within its walls.

The negligence of the school authorities to ignore the situation and push it off as “kids being kids” contributed significantly to the boy’s death. The school had the means to enforce the matter but failed to take any action.

This added to the despair of the victim and did nothing to reduce the bullying. Holding school assemblies to talk about bullying does nothing to extricate the situation when it happens. There are questions about who was monitoring the security cameras when the first incident happened and why they failed to deal with it properly.

In today’s age, bullying has become increasingly prominent in the social media realm. These actions should be monitored and cyber-bullies should be blocked and reported for their actions. The school is supposed to be a physically safe place where parents drop off their kids so they can focus on learning. Whenever there are actions that could have been avoided or prevented, there are genuine circumstances for negligence.

If you are in need of a personal injury attorney in California, then the Law Office Of Tawni Takagi is the lawyer to contact. She and her law firm can be reached at https://www.losangelesinjurygroup.com or you can call her directly at the following number (310) 954-7248.