Teachers should always do their best to watch and supervise students throughout the activities during the school day. Administrators must remember that injuries are likely to occur in extracurricular activities as well. All too often the extracurricular sports are coached by laypersons who are hired into coaching positions because not enough teachers are available to cover all of the sports offered at the school. Because the school usually sponsors extracurricular activities at school, parents can bring charges of negligence against a coach, school, or school system; principals should be prepared to address safety issues and negligence issues with any adult working with students. Parents sued a school district in Texas because their son had died of heat exhaustion during a football practice. The courts ruled in favor of the parents on the basis that the school was responsible to protect students from bodily harm (Dowling-Sender, 1998). This incident might not occurred if the administrator had followed the advice of Risk Management and practiced Loss Control Activities (Gaustad, 1994). The Risk Management system determines that the administrator must overrule double practices during the summer, under extreme heat. Administrators have no choice but to confront coaches who are acting on the best interest of the sport rather than the players.

Administrators have no choice but to do everything possible to help avoid charges of negligence. While not all charges are avoidable, the administrators must do everything within their power to make sure that teachers are aware of the issues regarding negligence within the school. Principals need to recognize that not all teachers in their building have the knowledge of negligence revolving around supervision, instruction, and equipment maintenance.

If principals are at a loss for how to begin, they should follow the three steps outlined in Risk Management: (1) Create procedures and policies for all classes, laboratory work, recess supervision, etc., (2) Communicate the policies and procedures to every adult working within the building, and (3) enforce these policies and procedures consistently and diligently (Gaustad, 1994). Negligence charges can almost always be avoided if the teachers are attentive about making sure they are doing everything possible to protect students. Because so many teachers today are unaware of the legal ramifications for negligence, the burden is placed on the shoulders of the administrators to educate their staff. It is then the responsibility of every person in a leadership position, whether paid or voluntary, to follow the policies and procedures to ensure a safe and productive learning environment for every student.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2336
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)