Sunday, February 17, 2008

Tipping His Chair Causes Student's Death

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2257569,00.html

The Observer [UK]
17 February 2008

Rock-steady chair means an end to classroom tipping

New design will save thousands of pupils from falling over as they fidget in their seat

Anushka Asthana, education correspondent

It is an image familiar to every parent and teacher -- a child leaning back on a chair, balancing precariously on the rear two legs. For many people the rebuke of 'You'll fall and hit your head' will bring back memories.

Of the 7,000 schoolchildren admitted to hospital each year as a result of chair-related accidents, 70 per cent were rocking back dangerously, according to an analysis of government statistics by a south London teacher. [...]

In an online discussion on the Times Educational Supplement website, some teachers discussed how they stopped children tipping . 'I tell them of the kid I read about who leant back, tipped up and hit his head on the radiator's bleeder pipe, which penetrated his skull and killed him outright,' said one. 'Possibly an urban myth.' [...]

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