What Kind or Level of Supervision Should be Provided at a Day Care Center, School, or After School Program?

Throughout the State of Florida, there are playgrounds in virtually every school, day care center and neighborhood. Playgrounds are great places for children to interact with other children, get some exercise and activity, and use their imaginations. On most days playgrounds are areas or sites of the great enjoyment for children. At times, children are injured on playgrounds. Some injuries are unforeseeable and unavoidable. While other personal injuries are preventable with better maintenance and supervision of the playground area. When a school, day care center, or after school program has play time or recess time, it is important that the staff at the facility or school provide proper supervision on the playground. To the extent that there are state or local regulations regarding staff ratios and playground equipment, those regulations should be followed. Otherwise, common sense and safety measures should be taken for all playgrounds including those at schools, day care centers, parks, community centers, and homes.

Prior to permitting children to play in the playground area, the playground equipment and ground should be surveyed and inspected to make sure that there is no glass or other debris that could cause harm to a child. Furthermore, property owners and / or school officials should make sure that all equipment is in good order. As to the number of children playing at any given time, state regulations, local regulations, manufacturer recommendations, and/or reasonable safety conditions for the area should be followed. Furthermore, there should be a zero tolerance policy as the bullying acts on the playground. One act of bullying that is not addressed often times leads to another act of bullying. When bullying acts are ignored or tolerated, it is only a matter time before child is injured on a playground or other areas.

The book titled - The ABCs of Child Injury - Legal Rights of the Injured Child - What Every Parent Should Know - has chapters on School Injuries, Playground Injuries, Day Care Center Injuries, and other topics. You can get this book for free at The ABCs of Child Injury. Another helpful resource for parents is the book titled - Florida Day Care Center Injuries - Legal Rights of the Injured Child - Building Blocks of Knowledge for Parents. This book has chapters on Day Care Center Regulations, Indoor Facilities, Outdoor Facilities, Emergency Procedures, Records Keeping, and other topics. You can get this book for free at Florida Day Care Center Injuries.

---