After-school football BANNED
Discussion
I am not in the habit of posting news articles but this one has really pi$$ed me off.
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/default.stm[/url]
Schools across Renfrewshire have banned pupils from taking part in after-school football over fears they would be sued for injuries.
Nineteen schools have introduced the ban across the county after advice from the local council.
They were banned because volunteer coaches were not covered by the schools' insurance schemes for after-class games.
It means the Paisley and District league has dropped from 42 to 23 teams.
'Organisers responsible'
The warning came after the Paisley and District Schools Football Association and its umbrella organisation, the Scottish Schools Football Association (SSFA), did not provide cover for all coaches for after-school games.
The only teams to continue playing will be those coached by teachers, who are covered by council insurance.
The council is also offering free first-aid and coaching training to volunteers.
Council leaders had told head teachers that if children were injured - including injuries in vehicle accidents on the way to games - the organisers would be held responsible.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: "We're working in partnership with the SSFA to re-establish league football in the minority of schools where it's suspended.
I can't believe there's no way around this and I wonder if this could be a slight over-reaction from the council
Hamish Husband, Tartan Army
"We're awaiting confirmation of the new SSFA insurance policy and in the meantime we've devised a free programme of training for volunteers.
"We're prioritising schools that play in leagues which resume in Easter and the summer months so hopefully the issue will be resolved as soon as possible."
The Tartan Army criticised the move, saying the "compensation culture" could harm the grassroots development of Scottish football.
Spokesman Hamish Husband said: "I can't believe it's come to this.
"Schools football is the most important component in the grassroots of the game in Scotland.
"I can't believe there's no way around this and I wonder if this could be a slight over-reaction from the council."
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/default.stm[/url]
Schools across Renfrewshire have banned pupils from taking part in after-school football over fears they would be sued for injuries.
Nineteen schools have introduced the ban across the county after advice from the local council.
They were banned because volunteer coaches were not covered by the schools' insurance schemes for after-class games.
It means the Paisley and District league has dropped from 42 to 23 teams.
'Organisers responsible'
The warning came after the Paisley and District Schools Football Association and its umbrella organisation, the Scottish Schools Football Association (SSFA), did not provide cover for all coaches for after-school games.
The only teams to continue playing will be those coached by teachers, who are covered by council insurance.
The council is also offering free first-aid and coaching training to volunteers.
Council leaders had told head teachers that if children were injured - including injuries in vehicle accidents on the way to games - the organisers would be held responsible.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: "We're working in partnership with the SSFA to re-establish league football in the minority of schools where it's suspended.
I can't believe there's no way around this and I wonder if this could be a slight over-reaction from the council
Hamish Husband, Tartan Army
"We're awaiting confirmation of the new SSFA insurance policy and in the meantime we've devised a free programme of training for volunteers.
"We're prioritising schools that play in leagues which resume in Easter and the summer months so hopefully the issue will be resolved as soon as possible."
The Tartan Army criticised the move, saying the "compensation culture" could harm the grassroots development of Scottish football.
Spokesman Hamish Husband said: "I can't believe it's come to this.
"Schools football is the most important component in the grassroots of the game in Scotland.
"I can't believe there's no way around this and I wonder if this could be a slight over-reaction from the council."
Well the problem is this:
As the headteacher of a school who is told this, what option do you have? Continue to allow it at risk of being personally liable (with members of your staff liable too) or stop it just to be safe?
It is the parents who will be complaining, and it is the parents who have being suing schools for accidents on trips and around the school. The parents of a child at my mother's school brought a case against them for negligence when their 7 year old shut her fingers in a door and damaged them. A nasty accident, but how many parents help their 7 year olds to go through doors? The school is in loco parentis but no reasonable parent follows their child through every door... anyway, the case was dropped.
Sometimes, accidents just happen.
said:
Council leaders had told head teachers that if children were injured - including injuries in vehicle accidents on the way to games - the organisers would be held responsible.
As the headteacher of a school who is told this, what option do you have? Continue to allow it at risk of being personally liable (with members of your staff liable too) or stop it just to be safe?
It is the parents who will be complaining, and it is the parents who have being suing schools for accidents on trips and around the school. The parents of a child at my mother's school brought a case against them for negligence when their 7 year old shut her fingers in a door and damaged them. A nasty accident, but how many parents help their 7 year olds to go through doors? The school is in loco parentis but no reasonable parent follows their child through every door... anyway, the case was dropped.
Sometimes, accidents just happen.
D_Mike said:
Sometimes, accidents just happen.
If you'll excuse this handy 'Nom de plume' I am actually a regular poster.....
I've been a school governor for more than ten years in a primary school and I couldn't agree more with the post above.
Our budget, 'though better than when I started as a governor, is always tight and as you may know teachers are increasingly being asked to do more 'paperwork' (largely because as a school we have to be able to 'prove' to OFSTED that we are teaching the children enough stuff.
) and yet an enormous proportion of the parents feel that teachers should ALSO be spending valuable and expensive time teaching their kids to behave as well. Last autumn I went away on an extended journey to the Lakes (yes, we do still do it we're not frightened of being sued!!!) and the number of occasions on which I witnessed children in the process of doing something just mindless was unbelievable. You can just imagine it:
"Yes, I'm afraid little Johnny is a bit injured Mrs.Chav."
"Well you should have stopped him running flat out into that ravine, I'm calling 'Money 4 Greedislobs Ltd, Solicitors'."
Our Kayaking instructor shouted 4 or 5 times to a boy to turn around and come back to the group, but in the end I had to chase him down and tow him back tied to my boat.....
Incidentally, don't try going away with primary pupils unless you can take EXTREME provocation without contemplating murder.......
It strikes me that, in this world where we're rounding off all the edges, wrapping everyone in cotton wool, preaching all activity as dangerous and keeping one hand on the phone to the solicitors at all times, we're going to see three major side effects:
-Kids getting obese through lack of exercise (already happening)
-Kids getting into drugs and crime as everything 'conventional' is decried as dangerous (already happening)
-Kids getting unrealistic expectations of their lives through constantly watching the TV, seeing all the sports stars and 15-minute-fame pop star talent shows and as a result thinking that 'normal' jobs are pointless, and 'fame' is easy and lucrative (already happening)
-Kids playing computer games instead of playing with their mates, and leading themselves to believe that they're an expert soldier/driver/manager/stock market trader/sports executive, and all the while having little if any contact with the real world, to the point where, when they finally make moves towards their 'chosen field', they haven't a clue (already happening)
And more and more, the young politicians who are going to be running this country in the future are coming from a dwindling group divorced from the realities of the population yet increasingly intimidated by its lack of coherence and interaction, and reacting by patronising the population, dumbing them down further, and banning everything it sees might constitute even a minor threat to the cotton wool wrapping.
And it's really worrying me.
-Kids getting obese through lack of exercise (already happening)
-Kids getting into drugs and crime as everything 'conventional' is decried as dangerous (already happening)
-Kids getting unrealistic expectations of their lives through constantly watching the TV, seeing all the sports stars and 15-minute-fame pop star talent shows and as a result thinking that 'normal' jobs are pointless, and 'fame' is easy and lucrative (already happening)
-Kids playing computer games instead of playing with their mates, and leading themselves to believe that they're an expert soldier/driver/manager/stock market trader/sports executive, and all the while having little if any contact with the real world, to the point where, when they finally make moves towards their 'chosen field', they haven't a clue (already happening)
And more and more, the young politicians who are going to be running this country in the future are coming from a dwindling group divorced from the realities of the population yet increasingly intimidated by its lack of coherence and interaction, and reacting by patronising the population, dumbing them down further, and banning everything it sees might constitute even a minor threat to the cotton wool wrapping.
And it's really worrying me.
I entirely agree with "Arthur Jackson" above.
I'm amazed teachers are still prepared to take kids on school trips. I can't see it going on for many more years.
Same with many extra-curricular activities.
And as Arthur points out, far too many parents expect teachers to not only educate their kids, but to also make up for incredibly poor parenting as well.
I'm amazed teachers are still prepared to take kids on school trips. I can't see it going on for many more years.
Same with many extra-curricular activities.
And as Arthur points out, far too many parents expect teachers to not only educate their kids, but to also make up for incredibly poor parenting as well.
v8thunder said:
Kids getting unrealistic expectations of their lives through constantly watching the TV, stars and as a result thinking that 'normal' jobs are pointless, and 'fame' is easy and lucrative (already happening)
Kids playing computer games instead of playing with their mates, and leading themselves to believe that they're an expert soldier/driver/manager/stock market trader/sports executive ..... they haven't a clue (already happening)
I see this in schools all the time. Someone at some point has told kids that the world owes them a living and to 'rise up' from the downtrodden occupations of the past and just sell mobile phones ....or something.
mybrainhurts said:I must, actually, kind of contradict my previous post up to a point. Our kids have a good time and when treated well MOST of them reciprocate, but I'd never walk them down a fast flowing river.......
He no longer does this as he feels he might be sued/charged personally if something went amiss.....
Ferg said:
and just sell mobile phones ....or something.
You should see some of the wkers I get wanting to be plumbers...........not a clue, not a hope.
It's probably because they've been told there's a lot of money in independant plumbing, but aren't willing to learn and start at the bottom rather than start making money immediately.
They just don't have any humility, have they?
Ferg said:
They just don't have any humility, have they?
If, by 'humility', you mean common sense, then "Yes!!"
Well, yes, in the sense that not everything nets you the jackpot in the first week, and when you're new, you do have to start from the bottom and work up, and you will have to learn from the experts that you aren't.
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