The study, not comprehensive though, substantiates what school administrators have feared.

In recent years, more schools have closed their recreational facilities during non-school hours and holidays to prevent accidents and shield themselves from lawsuits, said Yang Yongming of the Juvenile Protection Committee, who supervised the study.

Zhu Xiafei, principal of Hongkou High School, added, "Parents always hold the school responsible when students are hurt on campus, no matter how the accident happened."

He urged city lawmakers to pass a measure delineating the circumstances that would determine who would be responsible when a student is injured on campus or during school-organized, off-campus events, such as field trips. Otherwise, school administrators would be afraid of having physical-education classes, spring and autumn outings or having campus playgrounds open during holidays, Zhu said.

According to the study, 87 students were reported to have been injured on the 128 campuses in 1998. In 1999, there were 105 injuries and last year, 118. The survey, done in mid-August, was limited to schools in Changning, Zhabei, Minhang and Fengxian districts.

The survey did not break out the number of injury-related deaths. But at least one occurred - at Longhua High School in Xuhui District, which was not covered by the survey.

"Most of the injuries occurred on playgrounds, where students suffered fractures and bruises. Some even hurt their internal organs, endangering their lives," Yang said.

Last year, 68 percent of the injuries happened on playgrounds, 47 percent during recess and 27 percent in physical-education classes, the study found. The injuries stemmed from inadequate safety measures, misunderstanding instructions from teachers and students' mischievous behavior, Yang said.

Eleven months ago at Longhua High, 17-year-old Li Lei died after he was pushed to the school canteen's floor by classmate Liu Yi. Li suffocated on his digested food that was pushed into his respiratory tract.

(eastday.com 09/21/2001)