When my kid was being picked on by a bully at school I was told this very thing by his assistant principal. "The school policy is that the one fighting back gets the same punishment as the one who started it. Students are supposed to (I sh** you not she said this) roll up in a ball and take it until a teacher shows up."
"What if he has a knife?" I asked.
"Oh all weapons are banned in school." replied Assistant Principal Nitwit.
"What if the bully ignores your ban?" I asked.
"We deal with that most severely."
"What is severe?" I asked.
"He could be expelled." She smiled as she said this.
"So let me get this straight. You expect my son to roll up in a ball and get pounded on at a minimum and quite possibly murdered at the maximum and if he defends himself in any way you'll punish him just like you did the one who started the violence. Do I have your stupid little policy right? Have I missed anything?"
She looked very uncomfortable for a moment and said "Well I admit it may not seem to make sense, but we have to treat every one equally or we could get sued."
"Well let me tell you our policy on violence madame. My son has been instructed to run away if it's possible and find an adult. If that's not possible he is to do everything in his power to defend himself from a violent attacker and that includes him using violence. And if you think for even a split second about punishing my kid for defending himself from a bully I guarantee you'll find yourself in Court from that day until the day you retire."
I continued: "Not only will I sue the School District, I'll sue you personally for depriving my child of his civil rights. I'll see you stripped of your indemnity and have every dime of the judgement I win come out of any future salary you manage to scrape up flipping burgers and you can kiss your fat taxpayer financed pension good bye as well. Now you stop the bullying before my son is forced to use the Tae Kwan Do skills I spent a considerable amount of time and money having him learn."
"Do we understand each other Madame Asst. Principal?"
She managed to squeak out a "Yes."
I bid her a good day and left.
L
Some sick people in positions of power in this country.
You are my hero!
Curious to know - did the bullying stop?