I hate compensation culture

From yesterday's Metro:

The organiser of the world's only plank walking competition was baffled after insurers ordered him to warn entrants they 'might get wet'. John Nurden, chairman of the annual World Walking The Plank Championship in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, was told he would have to cancel Sunday's contest if he did not ask contestants to sign a form accepting the risk of a soaking. 'It's unbelievable really but it's a sign of the times - the compensation culture', Mr. Kent said.

This story, and others that crop up fairly regularly, really help to demonstrate my loathing for compensation culture. When a walking the plank competition is ordered - not even advised, but told in no uncertain terms - to get its entrants to sign a disclaimer about getting wet, isn't it time to see that there's something very wrong somewhere? In a way I don't blame the insurance company. You'd think it would go without saying that in a competition where you jump off a plank of wood into water, you are almost certainly going to get fairly wet. But if someone decided to make a case that this wasn't made clear, and wanted compensation for their wetness, without the disclaimer I wouldn't be surprised if they won.

Compensation culture is one of my most hated things about the world today. Maybe it's because I'm planning to have a career as a teacher, and compensation culture dictates so much of what you can and can't do as a teacher to the point that you aren't allowed to comfort a child who has hurt themself or has received some upsetting news, in case you cause emotional damage or were seen to be acting inappropriately towards the child. Or maybe it's just because it's become elevated to ludicrous levels and is really, really annoying.