Monday 24 November 2008

Do You?


So we discovered this morning that my son (with the broken ankle you'll remember) cannot travel on the bus to school.

Why? Because he can't manage? No. Because his friends refused to help him? No.

In fact because insurance won't cover him. On top of this the school wished to know if we were going to take things further IE were we going to sue them. For doing an after school activity, something he enjoys, frankly knew was a rough game (that's part of it's appeal) and he had an accident (think about that word accident, it's called that for a reason).

What is this PC, human rights, namby pamby world coming to? The fact was that there are other parents complaining about much lesser injuries. Don't these parents realise that if they pursue this, eventually all these activities and sports will stop for fear someone might cut a knee, strain a muscle etc etc? They complain that kids these days don't get enough exercise, so I've got a great idea, lets stop them doing anything that might have even a remote risk of injury and keep them all indoors (where all the walls are padded obviously). Sheeeeesh, sorry folks, it makes my blood boil it really does! Don't get me wrong, people do have rights and we should take reasonable steps to ensure ours and our childrens safety etc but when a school is worried you might sue them because your child got hurt playing a game.......

Oh there's an image today too, this knackered old bus with it's slogan reminded me of cheesy 70's holidays, which of course I loved at the time!

CM2008

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

WTF is the world coming too, no need for sorry this kind of whimpy limpy BS riles me also,
I guess schools will have to stop letting student read books or write on paper soon for fear of papercuts!!!!

Anonymous said...

you should see it here, you can't even take photos of your kids playing sports... them and their sick minds

CraigM said...

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks things have gone way too far! Thanks for stopping by, oh and Elaine, no you can't do that here either!

Anonymous said...

I'll start up with the nice part: I like your photos - especially "Seaside Special".

Now the contentious part: Your son's school issue is a liability issue. People have used injuries as a paycheck far too often - frequently winning judgements under flimsy circumstances. It has nothing to do with being PC which had it's start with things as obvious as not wanting to be groped or hit-on by someone who has control over your paycheck. There is simply no reason why someone should have to live their life subject to racism, sexism or homophobia.

Has it been taken too far? Perhaps, but it shouldn't be surprising that insulting, offensive behavior might produce an over-reaction. Again, this has nothing to do with your child's injury which, as you've described, was a sports injury.

I'm really at a loss to understand why you would list human rights as a problem. Oppression, torture and genocide have polluted human history and, without a doubt, should be eliminated. Everyone deserves to be free, happy and safe. These are our rights. Rugby injuries aren't in the universal charter of human rights because, well, it's apples and oranges...

Proper disclosure:

As a white, heterosexual, male, I don't face much discrimination, but it exists and when I see it, I don't like it. I am not a lawyer, and I'm not a fan of ridiculous lawsuits - they make things more expensive or even unavailable for us all.

I grew up playing hockey and north american football, both extremely physical sports not without their dangers. Hockey even being one of the few sports that still accepts fighting as an integral, if vaguely discouraged, part of the game. I miss playing them both. Now, I rock climb and snowboard, both risky endeavors that usually claim several lives a year. If I had a son, I would heartily encourage him to participate in all of those sports. But not baseball, I can't tell you how much I hate baseball. There's no hitting ;-).

CraigM said...

Tripleman, thanks for your comments, I'm glad you like the images.

As for the rest, I'm not a lawyer either (thankfully). I wasn't suggesting that the injury had anything to do with PC or human rights. I was just suggesting that all of these things have gone too far along with ridiculous law suits which, as you rightly point, out cost us all in the end.

People do have the right to live safe and happy lives no question but should I/we be paying for murderers or rapists (for example) to have satellite TV and internet access etc in prison because they have human rights?

So perhaps I did not explain myself fully or very well. I was a little wound up at the time of writing because parents were/are considering a law suit against the school for a muscle strain sustained at the same practice session. Can they not see that this is not helping their son, the school or indeed any of us in the long run? I was, in short, just venting ;O)

So I wouldn't tolerate racism, sexism or homophobia any more than you would but my American friends can call me Limey and the Australian ones can call me Pommey without fear, it's just not on the same level.

Meanwhile my son is off the crutches, can actually take the bus to school and is itching to get back on the pitch!

Oh and I'm sure there's hitting in baseball even if it is just the ball ;O)

Cheers

Craig