School of hard knocks...

Today's rant is brought to you by the story of a young 13 year old girl who, upon arriving at her school after going to the hospital the day before for a knee injury had the school nurse take her crutches away.

This story is completely insane ... and one of the rare instances where I feel that a lawsuit is justified. This is a serious case of a school nurse who simply didn't think about what she was doing or what the consequences of her actions might be. As a result this young girl has had to have knee surgery and as with any such operation there is a chance that she may not recover 100%. (She's young so she likely has pretty good odds on the recovery but at best it's going to be a while before she gets back to playing sports, if ever.)

The school nurse, at best, showed poor judgement. There was no official policy to back her actions ... there was an email from the Supervisor of School Health that had said that students must 'produce a doctor's note to use crutches or a wheelchair' which, of course, implies that if a student doesn't have a doctor's note then the crutches or wheelchair must be taken away ... of course it could also mean that without it the student would not be allowed to attend classes which would mean that the school nurse should have sent the girl home.

And there in lies the whole issue ... the email, apparently, said that students 'must' have a note ... but doesn't actually create a policy ... it implies one ... but, technically a policy should define the actions to be taken in the case of something outside the policy. I mean, lets look at the options here ... 1-hold the student in the nurse's office until a doctor's note is provided, 2-send the student home as a 'un excused' absence until a doctor's note is received, 3-contact the parent (the nurse did this and was told by the mother that the crutches were prescribed, but when the note was not faxed she took the crutches from the girl) and tell them that a note would be needed tomorrow or choice 1 or 2 would occur and then let the student go to class, or 4-take the crutches (or wheelchair ... yeah THAT will fly). ALL of these possibilities would potentially satisfy the 'policy' of the email.

Number 4 is the absolute worst of the options because any injury that requires crutches is likely to be worsened if they are removed. This girl was wearing a knee brace for crying out loud ... it's not like she had an Ace bandage wrapped around her knee ... if she's faking it she's going through a lot of friggin trouble to do it.

It was mentioned that the school is concerned about the injury of other students due to students using crutches (and wheelchairs) ... the answer to that is simple ... kids (with a doctor's or parent's note) using crutches (or wheelchairs) either 1) leave class early (to get to their next class before the halls fill up) or 2) leave class late (and get to their next class late) so that the halls have emptied before they are moving through them.

Claims have also been made that crutches can be used as weapons .... oh give me a flippin break. If you're going to use that excuse for taking them from the girl then you'd best be making sure that students aren't carrying book bags with books in them, pens, pencils, protractors, rulers, or anything made of wood, plastic, or metal .... better take all shoe strings, necklaces, and don't forget to remove the forks, knives, and probably spoons from the lunch room ... and make sure that the tables and chairs are bolted to the floor. Almost ANY item can fit the description of a weapon so let's save ourselves a headache and not go down that road.

In other words, none of these are compelling reasons to take the crutches from the girl ... or ANY student for that matter. The supposed email could be blamed but it's fault is that it is too vague ... it doesn't account for the sheer idiocy of many of the people employed within the governmental school systems ... the way I see it things break down like this ... 1) the nurse is at fault for her judgement in interpreting the email 'policy', 2) the Supervisor of School Health is at fault for not clearly defining the intention of the email and or making a full official policy before sending that particular email, 3) the school board/district because the fact of the matter is that what most people like to forget is the fact that ultimately a boss or employer is responsible for the actions and behavior of anyone under them.

But then again ... this is a governmental program we're talking about ... expecting logic, reason, common sense, responsibility or any level of professionalism is something beyond delusional. I'm sure I had some other points to make ... but I've lost my train of thought at this point so I'll let you figure 'em out.