Just When You Think Your Child is Safe...

Bruce Bierhans

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 540

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As a parent, wouldn't you think your child was safe if he or she attended an overnight graduation related event on school grounds? Of course, you would have every right to believe that such an event would be attended by school authorized chaperones...wouldn't you? Well, you might be wrong.

Our office recently took on a case in which our clients 17 year old daughter sustained very serious personal injury the morning after such an event occurred. She was struck by a motor vehicle that had driven onto the lawn near the graduation tent at Harwich High School. Apparently, this occurred in the context of a juniors on seniors prank. She sustained multiple breaks to her leg which are potentially career threatening because of her activities in competitive Dressage.

It turns out that although the event was on the school grounds and the school committee and Harwich PD knew it was going to occur, it was unchaperoned. This, despite the fact that a graduation dinner event for seniors a few nights earlier, had multiple chaperones at the dinner. And...that dinner was not on school grounds!

If you're shaking your head and asking WHY; you're not the only ones. Harwich town officials need to take a long and hard look at this one and we intend to request that they do so.