Something on the news triggered an old memory. I think I was in the forth grade. That officially makes it old. One day they notified us that there would be teachers after school. They would check out sports equipment and games, checkers, chess, etc.

It was really neat. Many times we played softball. We spent a lot of time playing chess. The big thing, we never said that there was nothing to do. It was great. It was great for the kids, for the community and it was good for the teachers. They got paid for the overtime and I’d guess they could use it. Oh, by the way, it helped the parents who worked too. They had supervision for the kids until five.

Then, one day it stopped, as fast as it started. It seems someone got hurt and the parents sued the school. I didn’t know everything about it. Being a forth grader, I wouldn’t have understood it if I did. However, I do know that they fenced in the school and we were not allowed on the playground after hours.

Looking back over it, I can only speculate. Maybe the kid did get hurt. Maybe he just sprang his ankle. Even if he did break a bone, most kids do break a bone or two by the time they reach high school. I did. Most of my friends got hurt and had to have medical attention. Better that it be somewhere where there is adult supervision.

Well, regardless, that law suit shut down the whole thing. My guess is that whoever sued, sued for a million and settled for a hundred thousand. Better than going to court. Even when you win these days you lose. Lots of legal costs. Expensive lawyers. Frequently, the insurance company says, take the settlement or they won’t pay. So, even when you’re in the right, you end up paying through the nose.

At any rate, the lawyer won. He ruined things, made his couple of few grand, and us kids, we had no recourse but to complain that there was nothing to do.

Do you suppose the lawyers that make laws, would make a few that would protect the schools with after hour programs. Nope. That’s not going to happen! Those lawyers make the laws for the lawyers, not for us, the folks. If they came up with laws like that, it would eat into their legal fees.