Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
Am J Prev Med. 2010 Jul;39(1):81-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.02.019.
Concern over liability is a barrier to allowing community use of school property for the purpose of engaging in active sport and recreational activities. Recreational user statutes have the potential to limit liability for public schools when use occurs outside of regular school hours, reduce the fear of liability among school administrators, and increase opportunities for access to school facilities for recreation and physical activity by community members. The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of recreational user statutes to public schools when the use of school facilities for recreational purposes would occur outside of regular school hours.
A review of recreational user statutes from all 50 states was conducted in 2007 and 2009. Characteristics of those statutes from states with laws potentially applicable to public school recreation and sport facilities were described in detail.
Forty-two states had recreational user statutes that would potentially offer protection from liability for public schools. Protected activities listed in state statutes were summer sports (n=2); winter sports (n=22); athletic competition (n=1); sporting events and activities (n=1); exercise (n=4); and any other outdoor sport, game, or recreational activity (n=2). Specific protected physical activities listed were playing on playground equipment (n=1); running/jogging (n=2); roller-skating and rollerblading (n=4); skateboarding (n=2); disc golf (n=1); and bicycling (n=16).
This study suggests the need for further statutory liability protections for public schools, and immunity provisions that target activities conducive to physical activity, common on school grounds, and popular among community residents. It further suggests that empirical studies be conducted to examine school administrator's perceptions relevant to liability as a potential barrier to opening school sport and recreational facilities to members of the community outside of regular school hours.
对责任的担忧是阻碍社区将学校财产用于开展积极的体育和娱乐活动的一个因素。娱乐用户法规有可能在公共学校非上课时间使用学校设施时限制其责任，减少学校管理人员对责任的担忧，并增加社区成员在课余时间使用学校设施进行娱乐和体育活动的机会。本研究旨在探讨在出于娱乐目的使用学校设施时，娱乐用户法规对公立学校的适用性。
在 2007 年和 2009 年，对所有 50 个州的娱乐用户法规进行了审查。详细描述了那些可能适用于公立学校娱乐和体育设施的法规的特征。
42 个州有娱乐用户法规，这些法规可能为公立学校提供责任保护。州法规中列出的受保护活动包括夏季运动（n=2）；冬季运动（n=22）；竞技比赛（n=1）；体育赛事和活动（n=1）；运动（n=4）；以及任何其他户外运动、游戏或娱乐活动（n=2）。具体列出的受保护的体育活动包括在游乐设备上玩耍（n=1）；跑步/慢跑（n=2）；轮滑和滑旱冰（n=4）；滑板（n=2）；飞盘高尔夫（n=1）；和骑自行车（n=16）。
本研究表明，公立学校需要进一步的法定责任保护，以及针对有利于身体活动、常见于学校场地和受社区居民欢迎的活动的豁免条款。它进一步表明，需要进行实证研究，以检查学校管理人员对责任的看法，因为这可能是在课余时间向社区成员开放学校体育和娱乐设施的一个潜在障碍。
