Snowball fight? Better get in the zone first

Published on Friday 13 February 2009 20:59

SCHOOLS have set up special zones for throwing snowballs to avoid being "spoilsports" and banning the game for health and safety reasons.

However, personal injury lawyers say the move could make schools even more liable for injuries as they could be viewed as encouraging the activity.

Pupils at Gordon Primary School in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, pleaded with staff to lift a ban on snowballs in break times.

In response teachers decided to create a specially marked area in the school grounds for children to take part in the traditional winter game.

Any pupils wishing to avoid being pelted were advised to stay away from the area.

A previous ban, implemented several years ago, was intended to avoid injuries and allay parental fears.

Anne Hyslop, head teacher of the 450-pupil school, said: "Some of the kids were getting into trouble for throwing snowballs and we thought 'Oh dear, we don't want to be spoilsports'.

"It was the kids, with some of the staff, who came up with idea for a zone as an experiment.

"Basically, if you don't want to get hit by a snowball stay out of the zone."

One parent said: "It seems like a sensible compromise.

"Snowball fights in the playground are part of growing up."

However, she added: "It looked like the whole school was in the zone when I went past."

Snowball fights have been causing problems across Britain given the recent winter weather. Many schools have imposed blanket bans on throwing snow for years, in fear of injuries caused by hard ice or grit picked up with soft snow.

A snowball zone has also been introduced at a school in Aberfeldy.

However experts warned schools and local authorities could open themselves up to legal action with the move.

James Herd, a personal injury lawyer and health and safety specialist at Scottish legal firm Morton Fraser, said as owners of the premises, schools had a duty of care in relation to any activity occurring there.

He said: "If they have a demarcated area where children can throw snowballs, then if a child was struck in the face with a snowball and lost an eye, the argument could be that the school allowed the children to throw these things around.

"They could even be seen as encouraging or facilitating the activity, which could well result in them being potentially liable.

"The long and short of it is if the question is do they become more or less liable, having an area might make them more liable than if they didn't."

Another personal injury lawyer, who didn't wish to be named, agreed.

He said: "If all they are doing is allocating a certain space, how does that deal with the safety?

"This is almost getting to the point where they are saying to children 'you do it at your own risk'.

"I would find it difficult to see how containing it in a restricted area would remove the liability of the school."

A spokeswoman from Aberdeenshire Council said: "Generations of young people have thrown snowballs and Gordon Primary School's initiative to set up a 'zone' is all about minimising the risks while still allowing young people to have fun."

FACT BOX

A HEADTEACHER in Cumbria introduced goggles at his primary school to allow pupils to play conkers safely in 2004.

Sean Halfpenny took the step to allow children to carry on playing the traditional game without injuring themselves. He said: "It's just being sensible. We live in a litigious society."

In the same year Veronica O'Grady of Menstrie Primary, Clackmannanshire, claimed she had no choice but to ban conkers after experts said the playground pastime threatened the lives of pupils who suffered severe reactions to nuts.

Abbeyfield Secondary School in Chippenham, Wiltshire, banned children playing with balls larger than a tennis ball on advice from health and safety experts.

Teachers feared the school was open to legal action from parents after a number of children suffered minor injuries caused by playtime games.

Other councils have threatened to remove roadside horse chestnut trees on the grounds that children might run into the path of traffic while collecting the nuts.

Suffolk County Council banned hanging baskets in case they fell on passers-by.