e that my son was being restrained by the second attacker. Both the boys involved in the assault on the son were much larger than he. One of the boys involved was a young man that my son had been having problems with on previous occasions. I had contacted the school in regard to the situation several times. On one of those occasions which my son was harassed he retaliated. When he did so he was observed by the teacher. As a result my son was reprimanded and I was contacted by the school’s principal. I told my son at this point that he needed to make the teacher aware of when this other boy was giving him trouble and that he should not attempt to retaliate in any manner. The school had made it abundantly clear that violence of any kind would not be tolerated even if it was done in self defense. When I called the school after the last attack the teacher informed me that there was nothing which could be done due to the fact that none of the teachers or administrators at the school had witnessed the incident. I found this statement incredulous. It was beginning to sound to me that a student could do anything and get away with it as long as no adult had observed the action. It was then that I had decided that it was necessary for me to do something in order to help my son. My son is not the athletic type. The thought of one kid beating him up was troubling enough, let alone two kids. So, in direct opposition to the wishes which were expressed by the school, I told my son that he needed to start defending 1 himself. I sat with him and explained to him that he should respect and acknowledge the rules of the school. I also explained that this did not mean that he was required to suffer through the humiliation which he was currently dealing with. We talked of things like dignity, honor, and self respect. I then proceeded to teach my son how to go about defending himself. I took great pains to inform my son that what I was showing him shoul...
