Page 38 - Mini-Module 9
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The Duty to Pupils
Parents entrust their children to schools and can expect them to be
adequately protected. Teachers take over some of the legal rights
and duties of parents. These include the rights of control and
discipline, and duties such as care and protection. On the other
hand the law expressly provides criminal sanctions for certain
behaviour, including physical or sexual assault, and parents and
students are provided redress through such causes of action as
negligence. In this section we shall examine the role of the school in
dealing with students on a day to day basis.
Teachers stand in as parents (in loco parentis)
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The UK case of Williams v Eady (1893) is probably the first
known case in which the court pronounced that:
“The School Master was bound to take such care of his boys
as a careful father would take care of his boys, and there
could be no better definition of the duty of a school master.”
In this case a number of bottles were put among other
equipment in a room at the school. The room was locked but
the boys had easy access to the key. One of the boys gained
access to the room, found a bottle of phosphorous, shook it
up and lit a match to it. The bottle exploded and Williams
was injured. The school was found negligent.
the context.
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