Mean kids at school

[stayathomepaul]

My kids came home very upset today. My daughter had a huge lump and cut on her arm, and my sons headphones were broken in half. Apparently the kid who did this to them got suspended, but I am still pretty shocked. Should I go in and complain?

 

[KSmith]

I don't think going in and complaining would do anything. The kid is suspended and that's most likely all they will or can do. Your kids have no doubt already told you what happened. Still, you could go in to talk to the teacher about it and show your concern. In addition, I would ask what steps have been taken to avoid such incidents in the future. I'd approach it calmly and using reason, without loosing my cool with the teacher.

 

[SteppinIn]

I'm surprised that the school didn't contact you to tell you about it, even though they did act quickly. I would suggest at least calling in to say you'd like to be informed of things like this in the future. Maybe you should ask if the kid's parents could get your son a new pair of headphones?

 

[stayathomepaul]

I got some more information and things make a little more sense now. Apparently the kid broke my sons head phones, then my daughter told him to stop teasing her brother. So the kid pushes her. Apparently, after he pushed her, my son started to beat the crap out of this kid. I guess this was witnessed by 3 adults and the whole class. My son is not in any trouble so far. I am waiting to see if the other parent complains that my son beat her son up. Now I do not like fighting but I am not going to punish him for beating up a boy who physically hurt my daughter. Is that bad?

 

[Steve]

No way, I wouldn't punish him either the other kid started it. And he was defending his sister, so I say the other student deserved it!

 

[Independent]

I have to agree with you. I think it is good that your son is protective of his sister. I think that helps to build a strong bond. Hopefully that mean kid learns a very important lesson from this situation.

 

[forgotten]

Definitely, no punishment is needed here. But I would tell him that in such cases, especially when they are still in school, they should report the incident to higher authorities instead of fighting it out.

 

[MickL]

I don't think you need to punish your son for that. Nobody's punished for doing the right thing, right? I wonder why none of the three adult tried to stop it.

 

[KSmith]

I wouldn't punish my son for protecting his sister. I would explain that there are better ways to handle the situation than physically fighting, though. That's really not a good way of handling any situation (unless someone is trying to beat the crap out of you, of course).

As for the adults not stopping it before it reached the point of getting physical; that's a very good question.