Splinter More Serious than a 7Ft Fall?!

Did you take him to the hosptial? If so they should've put him on restriction from recess or gym until he was seen by his own pediatrician? I would contact the principal as well. I'm only going by this b/c this happend to my daughter's best friend who is like my own son. Teachers have become very careless when it comes to emergencies these days, it is like they don't want to cause a big scene when there could be the potential of something happening, but they should be taught to handle the more serious issues w/more care then the less alarming ones that they give immediate attention to. Good luck.

take it to the top. Call the principal on Monday. If you are not satisfied-talk to the Superintendent. Then the school board. Follow up every conversation in writing. I wouldn't stand for this. Not at all. Not as much as the boys who "pushed" him-(You really didn't say if it was an accident or on purpose-if on purpose pursuit that as well)But for the fact that your child had a fall like that and proper procedure was not followed.

I am shocked...because our elementary school has a policy that if a child hits their head. They go straight to the nurse for evaluation. Then the nurse is required to call and report the "injury" to a parent and THEN send home a head injury report form.

My son has been in school 13 weeks and I have 10 head injury report forms. He walked into a door in the cafeteria, hit his head on the piano in music class, bumped it on the jungle gym at recess...the list goes on and on and on...the nurse and I are on a first name basis and we laugh together about how she is sending me another little "love note" from the clinic.

Part of me was annoyed at first because some of the head bumps were not what I would consider serious...but I do know every time he hits his head...and God forbid something happen, the school will have done their part to make sure they caught a head injury early.

You might inquire as to the clinic's or nurse's or district's policy on when they call parent and when they don't...maybe it is time for it to be reviewed and updated.

I agree w/ all parents who stated this needs to be addressed w/ principal. That's pretty serious and the school should be concerned for the chilld's safety and what could happen if he turns out to be more seriously injured and you were not notified immediately.

And another thing...even a little fall can result in serious injury. At 18 months of age, I had a bad fall, nothing showed up on x-rays until I was almost 12 yrs old (and was found by accident, too.) I had a broken neck!!!! 3 serious surgeries over 5 yrs and many scars (and sacrifices) later, I turned out ok...25 yrs later, mostly normal...but went thru hell to be here! Anyway...always better to err on the side of caution than to guess and be wrong! Best of luck and I hope your son is ok!

I would call the school and talk to the teacher and principle. I would tell them if at any time your child gets injured or falls you would like to be called so you can decided what you would like to do. Was your son also playing war on the equipment? Is so I would talk to him about how dangerous it could be. As for a fall being more serious than a splinter not always true. My daughter got a splinter at a friends house. The mother didn't think it would matter if it was left there until I picked her up. By the time I picked her up we could no longer see the splinter. She ended up with an infection running up her leg and was put on antibiotics. She was unable to walk for over a week and we had to go back and forth to the doctors office.
I was in daycare for over 20 years and you have the parents who get upset if you called them and they didn't feel it was neccesary and you disturbed them. I know hard to believe! Most teachers appreciate a concerned parent and wants to know it is ok to call you even for big and little things.

Why didn't you find the Principal? If you haven't already, get in touch with him. If you don't get results, go to the school district.

The boys should be talked to, but I have to wonder what participation your son had in this? Did the play just too rough and out of hand? Kids are learning still and sometime do things that they don't realize will hurt others. I didn't see the age of your son, but I am assuming elementary since he was on the playground.

I understand it angers you that this was by the hands of some other kid, but the other day I was taking my daughter and the neighbor kids for a walk. On the way back, we played Red Light/Green Light. Well out of no where, the 8 year old girl pushes me right in the small of my back. She just lunged at me and shoved. Well, I have a back injury and have been trying to heal since May. It hurt so bad and I was angry I was pushed for no reason. I don't know why she did it and she couldn't say either. I guess she was just playing and got out of hand. Anyway, I had to calm down and explain to her that we have to play with out pushing or touching other people. I was really caught off guard. However, she is not a bad kid, she just had a kid moment. It is a learning process for them.

A) talk to the principal or superintendant of the district. The teacher should have notified you even if he tripped and fell. ANY injury should be reported as soon as possible.
B) Do nothing and hope it doesn't happen again to either your child or someone else.

Ignore B and go with A.

Was your son playing war with these boys as well? If so, and he felt threatened, I would encourage him to play with someone else because these boys could have done something not knowing the TRUE ramifications of it. They should know. If it was an accident which it could be, then the incident isn't the problem, it is the response.

What did he fall on? His head, body, hands? I would talk to the teacher again and then if there is no appropriate procedure (which if it is CPS, there IS ONE), go to the hierarchy and get one in place. The teacher may not be aware of the procedure but if it is CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, there is one! Uncover the procedure, and demand that EVERYONE in that school know what it is. You find out first however.

I am disappointed by the parent/s who did the whole "boys will be boys" thing then went on to talk about the ton of splinters in her childs hands. The truth is a concussion is very dangerous, it you are unaware that your child has fallen 7 feet, then you don't really notice if he acting strange or is just plain tired. Please see the following "Although concussions cause a malfunction of the brain they do not result in any visible damage to the structure of the skull. In fact, concussions have been known to occur after even minor damage to the head if the brain has been jarred within the head."

"The symptoms that will usually immediately follow a concussion may include a headachy feeling, abnormal sleepiness, dizziness, confusion, lack of feeling or emotion, anxiety, blurred vision, vomiting, and the inability to remember events prior to the injury. If the period of unconsciousness is prolonged the symptoms may be more persistent and severe".

And we don't have to go into the dangers of internal injuries that again you may not be aware of even if you were notified that your son had fallen.

True story, my friend's boyfriend had a younger brother, 21 years old. He had been bumped by a car while on his bike. He got up and said that he was fine. He refused to be seen, he got on his bike and went home. That was the last time any of us spoke to him. He had had a concussion and internal bleeding.

Another instant, my daughter who suffered with severe asthma as a child by her 5th grade had been in the hospital and home from school as much as she had attended school. It was common knowledge among her teachers that my daughter suffered from chronic asthma. In fact both of my children are asthmatic. In 7th grade, she told her teaching that her chest hurt and she couldn't breath well. He told her to go sit down because he thought she was faking and trying to get out of an exam. Stress is a common trigger for an asthma attack. Later, she went to the nurse who immediately called us, we picked her up and took her to the hospital. she was in the hospital for a week with the doctors trying to open her lungs and get her back to normal. We reported the teacher to the principle who called a meeting with all of my daughter's teacher. The principle also implemented an requirement that allowed all teachers dealing with students who have any existing medical conditions to be informed immediately. The school was a very popular (at the time) and well known magnet school on the north side.

Please talk to the principle of the school, they usually take these issues very seriously.

Splinters huh.

regardless of what caused it, he should have gone to the nurse and you should have been notified. I would let them know this happened and express your concern.

Since you have already spoken to the teacher, I would talk to the principal. With a fall of that nature, I would have expected your son to be sent to the nurse (who would have/should have called you).

I would also suggest that you address the "roughness" of the boys' play. The teacher can't watch everyone at once but needs to pay attention and restrict rough play.

I am actually surprised that the school didn't not tell you. My children's school would have called...they call for everything, even when my son had an accidental exposure of something he was allergic to. I would have a meeting with the principal, because I don't think you will get anywhere with the teacher.

I am so sorry that the school responded this way. I would go in Monday morning and speak with the teacher and tell them that if this happens again, they are required to tell you by calling you to let you know so you can have the opportunity to decide for yourself what should happen with your son. They should have called you immediately--your right as a parent was squashed because the teacher thought they knew better than you. It was for you to decide what to do. Then go to the principal's office and speak to them about the incident. They need to have a better plan in place---there should be more people supervising and the boys shouldn't be rough-housing up on the play structure. Find out who the boys are and ask that they be extra vigilant in watching them. I wouldn't leave the school until you are feeling 100% certain that a plan is in place and that they will follow through with your wishes. Do not take no for an answer or the excuse of too many kids to watch---- YOUR kid is just as important as everyone else and if they can't ensure his safety at all times, they don't have any business watching him. Good luck!

Let us know what happens.
Molly

I think I want to address this in parts. I am five feet tall, and seven feet is traditionally a fairly safe fall. Playground equipment is created for exactly these types of falls, generally with something soft underneath it since children play so goofy sometimes particularly boys. Next I have two sons -both now into adulthood and while we worry and worrrrrry, there will be more falls and more injuries. What mother can keep her son from football, soccer or baseball if he wants to participate in sports if she cited the possibility that she would get a thunk on the head? Now here comes the part that is distressing to all parents. You knew he fell and assume he was pushed. Next did he land on his head? Was he knocked out? Did you actually take him to the doctor? I see you have a list of things, but if you are worried get yourself there asap. But honestly, unless you have a monitor on him twenty four hours a day, I hate to use the old boys will be boys and sometimes they want to blame the other guy because they think you will get mad at them.(Got a million stories here, no time to tell them all) And yes sometimes, unless there was a very clear indicator that he was pushed by a bully who should be reprimanded and landed on his head just keep watching. And about splinters: I actually took my son to the doctor with a swollen hand to have 32 splinters removed that were caused by a rope at a pool at the local park district. And that was quite serious.

I tell my son this if you know they are playing rough get away from them go on & do your own thing or play with others he is in 1st grade they play together greatly it is a class of 20 the teacher is well informed on their activity however if i'm not called in an accident or purpose injury at school I will raise cain.
I would send him back to school on Monday talk to the principal on this incident & let the staff know that this happened once it shall not happen again I need to be notified regardless.
How is your son?