Comments on: Suit: Kids’ “punching game” is middle school’s fault

By: Sheri Dunbar2378 Heartbreak ridge Charlottesville VA22903

Sheri Dunbar2378 Heartbreak ridge Charlottesville VA22903 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:22:13 +0000

My 15 year old son is being prosecuted for this silly boys game!! they each punched each other in the arm. The parent of the other child called the school and now the child says he never touched my son back!! My child was suspended and is having to go to court over HORSEPLAY!!! And because my child has been honest he is the one in trouble! At least give them both the punishment!! The school won’t even listen to my son that he has been hit on too!!!

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:12:00 +0000

Tflan – both of my youngest daughters will turn 13 during the 7th grade – because of their birth dates, rather than because they are stupid as you imply.

By: dustydog

dustydog — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:19:36 +0000

Hmm – the article is slanted; it calls cleaning up the accident ‘removing evidence’, as if a school district wouldn’t get sued for leaving blood on the ground (possible slip hazard, possible exposure to communicable disease).

On the other hand, the article is missing key information. A bully is always going to say ‘we were just playing’ when he gets caught. So it might be consensual horseplay gown awry, and it might be assault and battery. It might be a case of adults-can’t-be-everywhere, and it might be a case of criminal negligence.

By: stfoley

stfoley — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:22:15 +0000

Yep, I remember bloody knuckles real well…that and other stupid acts of pain tolerance with classmates. It’s normal…guys will get harmed on a regular basis as a kid, and guess what? We’ll do just fine.

It’s sad that kids can no longer climb trees, play baseball, tackle football, wrestle, box (my middle school allowed one to forgo physical education to take boxing lessons…I did), or any other potentially harmful activity.

Pain is something I went through and feel other guys need to go through because it helps develop the means to handle it effectively…especially where it matters, like not dropping a large TV set if you rip a knuckle open on a doorframe while moving (dropping said TV may break someone’s foot, which is a far more severe injury). So in a roundabout way, pain tolerance is a safety mechanism that males develop.

By: Todd Rogers

Todd Rogers — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:59:53 +0000

This is an example of ATLA being complicit in the proliferation of The New Castrati.

By: Mo

Mo — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:08 +0000

Adam, I formed that comment out of my memory bank…I read “Brave New World” as a teenager and it apparently resonated with me more than I thought! Simulated happiness, safety and contentment at the cost of intellect isn’t living, it is existing.

By: Tflan

Tflan — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:39:12 +0000

What’s a boy of 13 doing in 7th grade? It sounds like typical teen behavior is the least of his problems.

BTW, we played similar games growing up: Knuckles – you smack somebody’s knuckles with a deck of cards; and Bloody Knuckles – you each make a fist and punch each other in the fist. Both games were played until somebody gives. Neither had any impact on me, although my penmanship is awful.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:51:32 +0000

Could overlawyering be leading us to a “Brave New World” as described by Mo? Stay tuned.

By: Mo

Mo — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:45:53 +0000

I’d be willing to bet Ms. Walls is a single mom. Any man would’ve told her ALL boys engage in such horseplay. What the heck kind of world do people want? Obviously some unrealistic Utopian society where everyone is medicated, passive and no more than animated automatons.

It also sounds like she wants some “easy” money for what amounts to a non-issue. Her attorney should be sanctioned and she should be fined for filing this frivolous suit.

By: Candy

Candy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:21:45 +0000

I agree with Deoxy. Since putting my boy in school, it seems they’ve discovered a lot things “wrong” with him that I previously had believed to be simply characteristics of being male. What’s up with that? Why does something have to be “wrong” with them just because they’re boys? Why is there something “wrong” with everything boys like to do? Yeah, maybe they are aggressive, or competitive, or like to engage in physical confrontations.. so what? It’s not like this behavior is all of a sudden different from the way it’s been for 100s of thousands of years. What has suddenly and recently changed is the woman’s role… and just because we as women have made these advances for our gender doesn’t mean we should go around trying to “convert” males to be more like us. UGH!