Assault & Battery 17 year old broke my son’s jaw

[Anna Marie]

Look at this, an 8th grader was suspended for doing to another child what was done to yours:

Eighth grader attacked in class at local middle school

KISD doesn't tolerate violence of any kind.

All violators are prosecuted, if the parent wishes to do so.

This is what I think should happen. She was suspended, but that's not it. In our case it's 3 days and done. I'm looking for the next part.

 

[ElleMD]

So you have two hotheaded and immature children who are both responsible for a fight/horseplay that got out of hand and you kid happened to fair worse. Both assaulted one another and your kid started it. Both could be suspended/expelled. There is no rule that indicates the kid who loses the fight must get off scott free or only the victor must be punished. Both acted like idiots and it seems unlikely that this friend of his intended to cause the harm he did. It wasn't an unprovoked attack from someone who has regularly been assaulting or bullying your kid. It was one friend responding to the taunts of another "friend" of his (I will never understand the Y chromosome practice of insulting ones friends, nor of roughhousing, though these two are hardly unique in their behavior).

I would be extremely shocked if no member of the school board could have any relatives working for the district. Just as a matter of logistics, in a town so small there are only 50 kids in the HS, it would be nearly impossible to avoid any and all relatives of board members, unless your board is made up of orphaned only children who never married or had children. It may be customary to recuse oneself from voting on decisions which directly involve a family member, but that isn't unique to any one state. I've worked in much larger systems in much more densely populated areas and such a rule would still not be realistic.

It is also not super likely that you can hold this other child criminally responsible (well you can't but the state could- but likely won't). To be completely frank, childhood dust ups are not what the courts were designed for. It sucks your kid ended up with a broken bone but he did have a role in this incident, and in fact was the original aggressor (which I'm sure you would see if the roles were reversed and some other parent of a friend of his wanted your little darling thrown out of school for good and locked in jail). The goal of the state and school system is to EDUCATE and keep kids IN school. Not look for reasons to kick them out. This kid was a friend of his by your own admission so I am really unclear why you would need to leave town?? If your child is so medically fragile he can't risk interactions with other students, I suggest homeschooling (either by you or a teacher sent by the school system), online schooling, or an extended medical leave until he heals.

 

[army judge]

This is what I think should happen. She was suspended, but that's not it. In our case it's 3 days and done. I'm looking for the next part.

She is also being prosecuted in Juvenile Court.

However, our juvenile court system focuses on rehabilitation, not punishment which will teach the alleged offender not to settle disputes using violence.

My many years sitting on a military and civilian bench has shown me that we all need to be more CIVIL towards each other, and restrain ourslves from commenting negatively MOST of the time.

 

[army judge]

CLOSED thread as per request of OP