Gym class accident lawsuit another example of rampant lawsuit abuse in Illinois

Our culture of lawsuit abuse continues to go awry. The latest example comes from East Alton, IL. A family has filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the Wood River High School after their 14-year-old son collided with another student while playing a game during gym class.

Gym class is supposed to involve physical exercise. Sometimes accidents happen and injuries occur. How many kids have twisted ankles in a game of pickup basketball on school grounds or scraped their knees while playing touch football? Physical exercise is good for students but there are certain risks involved.

Yes, schools should take precautions to make sure gym class is a safe environment but it is ridiculous to expect schools to prevent every single accident from occurring.

The only way to make certain that kids are completely safe all of the times would be to put padding on the school walls and put the students into a protective bubble all day.

But before we turn our kids into bubble boys and girls we should consider how boring life would be in a bubble. Yes, the kids would be safe but at what cost? Life in a bubble would get very boring very quickly.

Real life is much more exciting but it is also full of risks and the sooner kids learn how to deal with those risks – the better off they will be. No one wants to see kids get hurt at school and certainly schools can and should take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their students. Playing a game in gym class, though, is not an unreasonable risk. Lawsuits like this one are a drain on our economy and they clog our courts and make it harder for people to get their cases heard. It is time for us as citizens to change the culture of lawsuit abuse in Illinois that is costing our state jobs and opportunities and stand together for real reform.