A Brief Discussion on the Liability of Schools for Compensation When Students Commit Suicide at School

- Intern lawyer Zhao Yixi

I. Legal Basis for Schools' Liability for Compensation

(1) Provisions of laws and regulations

The relevant laws and regulations in our country have clear stipulations on the responsibilities of schools in student education and management. The Education Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that schools and other educational institutions shall fulfill the obligation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the educated, teachers and other staff. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors clearly stipulates that schools should establish a system for the prevention and control of student bullying and carry out education and training on the prevention and control of student bullying for teaching staff, students and others. At the same time, schools should protect the personal safety and legitimate rights and interests of minor students.

In cases of student suicide, the determination of whether a school should bear the liability for compensation mainly relies on the provisions on tort liability in the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and the Measures for Handling Student Accidental Injury Accidents. Generally speaking, if a school is at fault and leads to a student's suicide, the school should bear the corresponding liability for compensation. Faults include failure to fulfill educational and management duties, etc.

(2) Judgment Criteria in Judicial Practice

In judicial practice, when determining whether a school should bear the liability for compensation, the following aspects are mainly considered:

1.Has the school fulfilled its responsibility for safety education

Schools should provide students with safety education, including mental health education, life education, etc. If a school fails to carry out relevant educational activities or the educational forms are monotonous and ineffective, it may be regarded as having failed to fulfill its responsibility for safety education. For instance, if a school fails to offer mental health courses or is understaffed with mental health teachers, it may be unable to promptly identify and intervene in students' psychological issues. In such cases, the school may bear certain liability for compensation.

2. Whether the school has fulfilled its management responsibilities

Schools should establish and improve management systems to effectively manage students. This includes supervising students' daily behavior, academic performance, mental health and other aspects. If a school is poorly managed and leads to a student's suicide, the school may bear the liability for compensation. For instance, if a school fails to handle students' disciplinary violations in a timely manner or fails to mediate conflicts and disputes among students promptly, resulting in student suicide, the school may be deemed to have failed to fulfill its management responsibilities.

3. Whether the school discovered it in time and took measures

If schools can promptly detect students' abnormal behaviors and take active and effective measures to intervene, their liability for compensation may be reduced or exempted. For instance, when teachers notice that students are in low spirits or behaving abnormally, they should promptly communicate with the students to understand the situation and inform the parents to jointly provide psychological counseling to the students. In this case, even if the student eventually chooses to commit suicide, the school's responsibility may still be relatively small.

4. The student's age and daily behavioral performance

For the group of primary and secondary school students, they are mainly individuals with limited capacity for civil conduct. However, they can engage in civil activities commensurate with their age and intelligence, and also have the ability to foresee the possible risks of their actions. At this point, the court will comprehensively consider the degree of fault of both parties and determine the responsibility that educational institutions such as schools should bear when they fail to fully fulfill their educational and management obligations.

5. Whether the time and place of the accident are within the controllable range of the school

If a student suffers personal injury or the like outside of school, it is generally determined that the school does not need to bear the relevant responsibility because there is no foreseeable possibility. However, if the accident occurs during the return to school activities, classes and other periods of study and life on campus, especially during special periods such as breaks and self-study, the school will determine whether it is at fault under the premise of considering whether it could have been foreseen by the school.

Ii. Specific Circumstances Analysis of the School's Liability for Compensation

(1) Where the school has obvious faults

1. Teachers physically punish or indirectly punish students, leading to their suicide

If a teacher physically punishes or forms disguised corporal punishment on a student, seriously damaging the student's self-esteem and physical and mental health, and leading to the student's suicide, the school should bear the main liability for compensation. For instance, when teachers abuse, assault or punish students in an unreasonable way in class, it causes severe psychological trauma to the students, who eventually choose to commit suicide. In this situation, the school should not only provide economic compensation to the students' families but also deal with the involved teachers seriously.

2.The school failed to detect and intervene in students' psychological problems in a timely manner

If a school fails to establish a complete mental health education system, or if teachers do not pay sufficient attention to students' psychological problems and fail to detect and intervene in students' psychological issues in a timely manner, resulting in students' suicide, the school should bear certain compensation liability. For instance, students who have long suffered from school bullying have developed psychological problems such as depression and anxiety. However, the school failed to detect them in time and take measures. Eventually, the students chose to commit suicide. In such circumstances, the school should be held responsible for its dereliction of duty and bear the corresponding liability for compensation. For instance, in the case of "Xiao Fu, a fifth-grade student at Huangwai Hanlin Experimental School in Conghua District, Guangzhou City, who fell to his death on campus", the second-instance court upheld that the school should bear 40% of the responsibility of the first-instance court, reasoning that the two teachers in this case did not pay sufficient attention and failed to follow relevant educational management regulations. When any abnormal physical or mental conditions of students are found, professional psychological teachers should be sought in a timely manner for counseling, and measures such as full-time supervision and accompaniment should be taken, and the guardians should be informed promptly. On the contrary, Teacher Liu was overly confident, believing that through conversation and counseling, she had already dispelled Xiao Fu's suicidal thoughts. Her ability to intervene in the psychological crisis of minors was clearly insufficient, and she was at fault. As the two teachers performed their duties, the corresponding civil liability should be borne by the school.

3. Poor school management led to student suicides

If the school management is in chaos, there are potential safety hazards, or the disciplinary violations of students are not dealt with in a timely manner, resulting in student suicide, the school shall bear the liability for compensation. For instance, poor management of school dormitories allows students to enter and exit freely, or the school fails to inspect students bringing dangerous items into the campus, which leads to students committing suicide in the dormitories. In this case, the school should be held responsible for its poor management and bear the corresponding liability for compensation.

(2) The school is not at fault

1. A student committed suicide for personal reasons

If a student's suicide is due to personal reasons, such as family conflicts or emotional issues, and the school has no fault in the educational management process, it should not bear the liability for compensation. For instance, students develop serious psychological problems due to their parents' divorce, heartbreak or other reasons, and eventually choose to commit suicide. In this case, although the school feels sorry for the student's suicide incident, it should not bear the liability for compensation.

2. Unforeseen emergencies led to student suicide

If a student's suicide is caused by an unforeseeable emergency and the school takes active and effective measures to handle the situation after the incident occurs, it should not bear the liability for compensation. For instance, a student suddenly encounters an accident on campus, suffers severe psychological trauma, and eventually chooses to commit suicide. In this situation, although the school could not have foreseen the occurrence of the incident, it promptly provided assistance and handled the situation after it happened, and thus should not bear the liability for compensation.

Iii. Limits and Balance of School Liability for Compensation

(1) Limits of liability for compensation

When a school assumes liability for compensation, it should determine the limit of compensation based on the degree of its fault. If the school's fault is relatively minor, the liability for compensation should also be correspondingly mitigated. If the school's fault is significant, the liability for compensation should also be correspondingly increased. At the same time, the school's liability for compensation should be limited to the actual losses, including medical expenses, funeral expenses, death compensation, etc. Compensation for mental distress should be determined based on specific circumstances and generally should not be too high.

(2) Balance the responsibilities of schools and families

The occurrence of student suicide incidents is often the result of the combined effect of multiple factors. When determining the school's liability for compensation, the responsibility of the family should be fully considered. If a family is at fault in the education and management of a student, such as lacking care for the student or using improper educational methods, it should also bear corresponding responsibilities. Therefore, when dealing with student suicide incidents, the responsibilities of schools and families should be balanced to jointly create a favorable environment for students' growth.

Iv. Conclusion

Student suicide on campus is a complex social issue. Whether the school should bear the liability for compensation in this case needs to be judged based on specific circumstances. At the legal level, schools should bear corresponding compensation liability according to the degree of their fault. At the educational level, schools should strengthen the management and education of students, improve the quality of teaching and education, pay attention to students' mental health, and create a favorable environment for students' growth. At the same time, families and society should also assume their corresponding responsibilities and jointly safeguard the healthy growth of students.