“Safety Net”

1. I don’t think that anyone is really at fault for the young girl in the Popke article. No one was demonstrating negligence. I do not feel that anyone was clearly demonstrating any form of negligence in the Popke article. As defined in class negligence is an unintentional tort that injures an individual in person property or reputation which may occur because of fault in duty, the act or proximate cause. All of the girls who were on the cheerleading team knew that there are risks involved in their sport, but they practice often and weren’t necessarily practicing for a stomach condition. There could possibly be an argument against negligence because it was known that Ashley Burns had stomach issues, but it couldn’t have really been predicted that it could lead to her death.
2. I think that the facility doesn’t really play much of a role in this case for the fact that they were outside and the only elements that could have affected the cheerleaders was the track. I think the most responsibility would rely on the coaches. If it was known that a student had a preexisting medical condition there should have been assessments of possible risks. If the family and student were not worried about this condition at all than that should have been noted and the coach would not have to face any charges for not keeping a watchful eye on her condition. In our class text book author Thomas Sawyer discusses how well designed facilities will only require a small amount of staffing while facilities that are not designed well will have to have much more staffing. In the article, however the facility is not designed poorly. So the fact that there is only one coach to the cheerleading team fits with what Sawyer discusses in the text. The coach was just doing the job that was asked and there was no negligent act in the case. It was simply a horrible accident that happened to an innocent young girl.

Source: “Safety Net” by Michael Popke

Sawyer, Thomas H. Facility Planning and Design. 12th ed. Champaign: Sagamore Publishing, 2009. 19-25. Print.

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