Quote Originally Posted by Kerry Stratton View Post
Sad that a young life was lost in that manner.

There are problems with the way things are handled today. My son was kicked out of school for stepping in when an older boy was tormenting a younger one on his school bus. He ended up punching the older boy and that is what got him suspended which I don't necessarily disagree with. I don't encourage my kids to use violence but this was a little different as the older boy had already engaged in some minor physical abuse of the younger child and was warned by my son to stop. When he didn't stop my boy stopped him, you could say. The thing that was really disturbing about the incident was the school's reaction. They called me in to discuss it and asked what I planned to do to make sure my son didn't resort to punching other kids. I told the principal I didn't plan on doing anything and in fact was somewhat proud of my son for coming to the defense of someone that could not defend themselves. This is what he was taught to do. Perhaps he shouldn't have used violence but after talking to some other students on the bus it sounded as if he didn't have a lot of other options. Still the principal was rather put off by the fact that I was proud of what my son had done and wasn't planning any disciplinary actions. I did talk with him and made a point to him that using force is a last resort only but that I was glad he came to the aid of the younger boy. From what I learned the boy doing the bullying, did not receive any punishment. That?s a problem.

If you get a chance please shake your son's hand for me and tell him I said thanks for being a real stand up guy. Kerry the apple don't fall far from the tree ya know.