Every child who drowns shatters a family.

[2] Compiled from: Guangzhou Baiyun District Court
 
[3] It was the height of summer, with the scorching sun blazing, and swimming in the water became the best activity for children to cool off. However, while playing in the water is enjoyable, safety cannot be overlooked. Every year, many children end up in tragedies by casually running to reservoirs or rivers to play in the water. After such incidents, not only do the families grieve, but assigning responsibility also becomes a problem.

 
 

Case review
 
On February 7, 2018, between approximately 13:00 and 14:00, Yanyan (7 years old), Xiaoqiang (11 years old), Xiaogao (9 years old), and Xiaowei (11 years old) were playing together around the reservoir area when they entered the discharge zone of the reservoir's sluice gate. The four children were playing on the slope of the primary pool of the sluice gate. Yanyan spotted a fish in the water and tried to catch it, but unexpectedly slipped and fell into the water. Xiaoqiang reached out to pull Yanyan up, but accidentally fell into the water himself.
 
[5] Xiaogao and Xiaowei were terrified when they saw their companions fall into the water. They quickly went to the spot where the fall occurred and tried to rescue them, but failed. Eventually, realizing the danger, they ran to the bottom of a highway bridge to seek help from adults. Two adults later came to the reservoir and began to search, but both Yanyan and Xiaoqiang had already drowned.
 
Yanyan's parents believed that she had been pushed into the water by her companions, so they sued the reservoir, Xiao Gao, Xiao Wei, and their parents in court, demanding compensation of 433,142 yuan in total for death compensation, funeral expenses, and other costs.
 
Relevant regulations
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
[2] Article 34
The duty of a guardian is to act as an agent for the ward in performing civil legal acts and to protect the ward's personal rights, property rights, and other lawful rights and interests.
Rights arising from a guardian's lawful performance of guardianship duties are protected by law.
If a guardian fails to perform guardianship duties or infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of the ward, the guardian shall bear legal liability.
 
[4] Article 1198
[5] Operators, managers of business premises such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, sports venues, entertainment venues, or organizers of mass activities, who fail to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations, causing harm to others, shall bear tort liability.
 
 
Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Temporal Effect of Applying the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 16
[1] Before the Civil Code takes effect, civil dispute cases arising from harm suffered by a victim who voluntarily participates in cultural or sports activities with certain risks shall be governed by Article 1176 of the Civil Code.
 
[1] Court Opinion
 
01. Is the reservoir liable?
 
The incident occurred at a reservoir, which is a flood control and discharge engineering facility. The statutory duties of the reservoir are to manage flood control and prevention, and the maintenance and operation of the reservoir hub, among others. It is an administrative management department and does not constitute a public place as stipulated in Article 1198 of the Civil Code. Therefore, the reservoir does not bear the "safety guarantee obligation" under that legal provision.
 
[4] Consequently, Yanyan's parents' claim that the reservoir failed to fulfill its safety protection duty and should bear corresponding compensation liability lacks factual and legal basis and is not supported.
 
02. Are the other two children and their parents liable?
 
[6] In this case, Yanyan was over seven years old at the time of the incident and should have been aware of the common dangers of waterways, especially since the reservoir had installed iron mesh fences around the spillway, making the danger obvious. Yanyan trespassed into a hazardous area protected by iron mesh fences and marked with danger warning signs. If Yanyan failed to recognize the danger, it should be attributed to her parents' negligence as guardians, who failed to provide adequate safety education and supervision. Yanyan's drowning was caused by her parents' guardianship negligence, and they should bear the responsibility themselves.
 
Ultimately, the Baiyun Court legally ruled to dismiss all claims made by Yanyan's parents. After the verdict, neither party appealed, and the judgment has now taken legal effect.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
 
During childhood, due to underdeveloped awareness and lack of life experience, children often do not realize they are facing danger or understand the consequences of their actions, leading to tragedies. Every year before summer break, schools emphasize safety to children, warning them not to swim or play in unsafe places like reservoirs. Yet, despite this, many children still drown each year, and behind each child's death lies a shattered family.
 
In this case, Yanyan, only seven years old, died unexpectedly, leaving her parents heartbroken. We can understand their immense grief and sympathize with their loss of a beloved child, but legally, we cannot distort facts to compensate for their sorrow. In fact, the best approach is not how to compensate but how to prevent. Countless painful lessons remind us that parents or guardians must earnestly fulfill their duty to educate children about safety, cultivate a scientific safety mindset, and teach basic life skills such as safe water, electricity, and fire use, as well as emergency self-rescue techniques, to truly help them identify and avoid dangers and grow up healthy and safe.