Zak punched a kid

I just thought I'd get that sensational announcement right in the headline to grab your attention. Two days as a teenager and already he's in trouble.
Know first that Mike and I do *not* condone violence, ever. But, here is the story.

On Friday, in art class, Zak was chatting with a girl (it begins!), and as one of her friends walked by she said something like "slap him, will you?", and the kid slapped Zak in the face. He did it again a little later. No, I do not know where the art teacher was. Ugh.

Zakary was upset by this, mainly because he didn't stand up for himself. Due to his tenuous start in life, Zak is skinny and small for his age. He also has one heck of a mouth on him. He is a bully target. This was part of the reason we enrolled Zak in tae kwon do. We believed that he should know how to protect himself. At his previous school, he was regularly bullied and he never fought back. That's obviously changed.

Yesterday, in gym, the volleyball game got a little tense. Arguements ensued over whose serve it was. Zak suggested everyone chill and get back to the game. Someone from his own team grabbed him by the shoulders and started to push him down. This time, Zak didn't hesitate. He punched the guy in the cheek and knocked him back.

The gym teacher (who had not been monitoring the game until the punch was thrown) had a talk with both boys and agreed that no suspensions would be necessary as long as both of them agreed that the disagreement was over.

Today, the talk of the school was that new little kid who punched that dude in gym class. Zak was afraid he'd be called to the office, or worse, be a target for other bullies, but neither thing happened. In fact, the slapper from art class offered up a piece of gum as a peace offering and all appears to be well.

Was the teacher wrong in not suspending the kids? Well, according to the letter of the law, yes. But I believe it was a good decision. Earlier last week, Zak's MP3 player (which should NOT have been at school) was stolen from his briefcase in gym class. The thief was ratted out by a locker mate and the gym teacher returned the property. No official punishments were levied in that case either, but again, it seems to have been the best decision.

Do I want Zak to ever punch anyone? No. But do I want him to be bullied? No. I think he's taken care of that.

PS, we also had a chat with Zak about his mouth. If he hadn't been telling folks to chill, the pusher wouldn't have gotten mad enough to push him. Lessons learned all around.