The reason why some parents are suing schools when a child commits suicide

Dianne Grossman said her daughter was entitled to a “hate-free learning environment” yet much of the bullying had taken place on school grounds. “I think schools are responsible for the mental well-being of our children. Just like they are responsible for the academics, for the ABCs and 123s, they’re also responsible for their emotional well-being," Grossman said. Lawsuits like these are sometimes settled out of court, but when a judge decides, the parents rarely prevail, said Perry Zirkel, professor emeritus of education and law at Lehigh University. Of 59 court decisions between 1991 and early 2018 that Zirkel and co-investigator Richard Fossey found, only one ruling was conclusively in favor of the plaintiff, in part because of what Zirkel and Fossey described as "a traditional judicial deference to school authorities." (July 26)