Personal Injury Law

Experiments in Education

By Megan Roth

Think back to your sophomore year in high school (or whenever it was you took chemistry). Remember getting to mix different chemicals and compounds and 'standing back' as you watched how they reacted? I sure do.seemed like a great idea at the time.

And it still is; lab experiments are a great way to teach students, many of whom learn by doing rather than by just seeing. However, they are many risks that go alongside such experiments and, often times, one wrong movement or measurement can cause the entire experiment to go awry.

In fact, lab experiments can turn into chaos in a matter of seconds. Just ask any of the 150 high school students who have been seriously injured in school lab experiments during the last four years.

This is the result of school's trying to meet the National Academy of Science's Science Education Standards (which were set in 1996). These standards push schools to teach in a hands-on type of environment. Which would be fine if all of the school's attempting to do so were adequately equipped with safe supplies and staff members were sufficiently educated with such procedures.

In the event that a student is injured in such an experiment, it is generally assumed that the school is liable. Now, take note: I said it is generally assumed. So school faculty and staff are generally pretty weary when it comes to what they allow their students to do. They want kids to be challenged, just not at the expense of the administration - or the expense of the parents, for that matter.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 09, 2008 (boomark / email).