5th grader who broke his clavicle 10days ago (his arm is still immobilized) was knocked over while coming in from recess, landed on his back and shoulders... I'm so glad our recess monitors are so good... They immediately called me down, and even though he was saying he felt ok, he was guarding his shoulder, pale and diaphoretic, and his verbal response time was slowed. Of course both parents are with their other child at specialist appointments 2.5 hours away all day! I told admin to call the parents and let them know I recommend EMS eval/transport, and they of course agreed. EMS came, agreed with my assessment and away he went, poor kiddo. I feel confident that it will be fine, but I just couldn't take the risk, and I most certainly was not moving him by myself.
Since I am sure the student was on activity restrictions, is it customary to allow these students out for recess? Maybe it’s the age of this specific student as I also allow some of our restrictions to sit on the bench for some fresh air, but if they cannot be trusted to comply with the doctors orders than no recess period.
He is on activity restrictions, and our school culture is such that we don't feel its fair to keep a child indoors and isolate him from his friends during recess, that's reserved for punishment (though he is given the option to stay in if he wants). Our recess monitors are very good (as I stated before) and make sure he isn't doing anything unsafe given his current status. I can clarify that no one did anything wrong; The kids were just lined up to come in from recess (just as they would do in the hallway between classrooms) and another child tripped and fell, pushing the child in front of the injured into/onto him. This wasn't a matter of "he shouldn't have been out for recess" and just a simple accident - if it didn't happen outside, it probably would have happened just as easily lining up for lunch.
On top of that, our playground is a sheet of ice right now, so the kids are all relegated to the blacktop and there is hardly any room for anyone to do any actual playing, so they are all just standing around anyway...
MrNurse(x2), ADN
2,558 Posts
Good call. This is why critical thinking is so important.