You are right about the way things were done in the past. That said, I don’t see it as the role of a man to raise his hand in anger on anyone else’s kids except in cases of immediate danger to someone. It’s good to be protective of your own kids, but as an adult you need to come up with ways to address situations without just wailing on someone weaker.
If my son was picking on a girl at school, I’d personally apologize to the girls father, and make my son apologize as well. I’d tell the cops and DA to drop the charges against him, and refuse to allow my son to cooperate with their investigation.
If my son was NOT guilty of picking on the girl, then throw the book at the guy.
My gut however, as a father, is that more than likely the kid had it coming.
I had to address a parent once about theirs sons actions toward one of my daughters. They didn’t care. It was all I could do to contain my rage.
I talked with the teacher. She didn’t care. In front of the teacher and principal, I told her if he did it again, since none of the adults would address it, she had my permission to trounce him since she had the absolute right to protect herself. Principal was shocked to silence.. not even any sputtering...just wide eyes.
She didn’t have to... word got back to him. He left her alone the rest of the year. Moved after that. Course some of the other boys distanced themselves a bit as well.
+1. He sounds irrational to me.
Agreed. A better solution would be to go to the child’s house and let the dad know that if his boy bothers the girl again, I’d be coming back and having something a bit more more energetic than a discussion with him.