A twelve year old Ontario boy died last year due to a severe asthma attack at school. His inhaler was kept in the office and he was not allowed to carry a spare one. His teachers continually confiscated any inhalers he brought to school. He was only allowed the one inhaler in the office but what good did it do him on that fatal day?
I have a cousin who has suffered from severe asthma her entire life. She always had an inhaler on hand and whenever she started having the slightest trouble breathing she would use it. At school, at home or playing around the neighbourhood she always had it with her. This led to her losing it on occasion but she never went anywhere without an inhaler. I would often end up carrying it for her if she didn't have any pockets in her outfit but I didn't mind too much. It felt a little bulky in my pocket but it was life-saving medicine for her.
I mention this because my cousin could have died had she not been allowed to always have her inhaler on hand. A member of the Ontario government has put forward a private member's bill to allow asthma-suffering students to carry a spare inhaler with them at school. Why does this even have to be legislated? Because we have become such a litigation-happy society that schools are faced with liability issues if somehow something bad happened as a result of a child carrying around his/her life-saving medication.
Society as a whole needs to stop looking for someone else to blame every time something bad/unforeseen happens. If your child takes someone else's medication whose fault is it really? Is it the fault of the school? the child who had the medication? his/her parents? The true answer, none of the above. It is your child's fault for getting into something that is not his/hers and if you didn't teach him/her not to touch other people's belongings without permission then you are to blame too.
It's time for the legal system to crack down on irresponsible lawsuits and throw out ones that a little common sense would tell you are absolutely ridiculous. The reason some of these lawsuits happen is because some lawyer sees a chance to make some money and the person suing wants someone to blame for something that may in fact be his/her own fault.
What is the result of all these frivolous lawsuits? Schools are so afraid of being held liable for things that they come up with policies that killed an innocent twelve year old boy. Shame on all you frivolous people whose lawsuits led to this sort of thing. I hope you are so proud of yourselves for making such a difference in this world that a little boy is no longer in it.
