Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

The Illinois school liability attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll were very sad to hear of two recent bullying incidents. In one incident, a 10-year old girl took her own life as a result of bullying that occurred in her Ridge Farm elementary school, near Champaign, in downstate Illinois. Another incident came about when a 17-year old, Northern Indiana high school student suffered traumatic brain injuries in an attack by other students, which occurred as a result of bullying due to his ethnic background. These incidents prove that bullying is not just "kids being kids." Bullying has serious consequences and should not be ignored by teachers or school officials.

Not all parents are aware that their child is the victim of bullying. Children may feel mistreated and misunderstood, but not know how to express these feeling to their parents or other adults. Stopbullying.gov, an official U.S. Government Web site managed by the Department of Health & Human Services in partnership with the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, provides guidance for parents. According to Stopbullying.gov, your child may be the victim of a bully if he or she:

• Comes home with damaged or missing clothing or other belongings
• Reports losing items such as books, electronics, clothing, or jewelry
• Has unexplained injuries
• Complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or feeling sick
• Has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams
• Has changes in eating habits
• Hurts themselves
• Are very hungry after school from not eating their lunch
• Runs away from home
• Loses interest in visiting or talking with friends
• Is afraid of going to school or other activities with peers
• Loses interest in school work or begins to do poorly in school
• Appears sad, moody, angry, anxious or depressed when they come home
• Talks about suicide
• Feels helpless
• Often feels like they are not good enough
• Blames themselves for their problems
• Suddenly has fewer friends
• Avoids certain places
• Acts differently than usual

There is also a good book on the market, When Your Child is Being Bullied: Real Solutions for Parents, Educators, and other Professionals, by M.K. Newman and J.E. DiMarco. Through the book and their website, solutionsforbullying.com, the authors explore individualized solutions to combat bullying.

Students who are bullied, hazed or otherwise injured while on -- and sometimes off of -- school property have certain rights and may be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit if they can show the school or university failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the accident. While the subject of school immunity often comes up when dealing with lawsuits against schools since Illinois generally provides teachers and other certified educational employees with limited immunity from negligence actions, Jeffrey J. Kroll has successfully defeated immunity defenses in numerous cases by proving willful and wanton misconduct on the part of the school or school district. Knapp v. Hill, 276 Ill. App. 3d 376, 382 (1st Dist. 1995). The legal term "willful and wanton" refers to the failure, after gaining actual or constructive notice of an impending danger, to exercise care to prevent harm to others, when that danger poses an unreasonable risk of harm. Sullivan v. City of Hillsboro, 303 Ill. App. 3d 650, 655 (5th Dist. 1999). It is a hybrid between acts considered to be negligent and those considered to be intentional. Stojkowich v. The Monadnock Building, 281 Ill.App.3d 733, 744 (1st Dist. 1996). Whether specific acts amount to willful and wanton conduct is ordinarily a question of fact for the jury. Green v. Chicago Park District, 248 Ill. App. 3d 334, 341 (1st Dist. 1999).

Jeffrey J. Kroll, a tireless advocate for injured children in all types of cases, including school liability, was recently interviewed by award-winning attorney and host Karen Conti for a segment on “Legally Speaking” on Chicago Superstation WGN (AM 720), to discuss bullying and hazing and how parents and schools can handle this problem in our society.