I had a student who liked to push others out of line and push his weight around. I worked with his mom and dad and he had improved quite a bit and had done well in class too. But one day, his temper got the best of him and he got in a fight with a kid. He was brought back to me. I forbade him from going to music and said he had to write me a 2 page paper about fighting. He WROTE FOUR and some pretty good writing too--note we're talking about first graders here. I did tell him I would have to call his mom. I guess when he got home, he was just bauling and the whole story came out. She had to try to maintain a straight face pretty hard. She had him call his dad at work and he kept saying, "I'm so sorry dad, I'll never do it again." They did ground him too. She said she thought he had gone through enough and I agreed. It never did happen again and the kid thrived in my class, eventually reaching a 5th grade reading level.
These stories apply to only first graders I imagine. It also helps that I know where each of my students live and that I am well-acquainted with many of the parents. It also helps that I know they are good parents who will do something if there is a problem and not just blame me--they'll talk to me first.
So I probably don't think that anything I say applies here, but sometimes there are different ways to solve individual problems.
(Meanwhile in a parallel universe ....)
Two weeks later, the kid brings that same pocket knife back to school, gets in a fight, and stabs another student in the eye, blinding him in that eye for life. The mother sues. The previous incident comes out in court testimony. The press goes crazy. The community is incredulous -- why didn't the principal do something before? Why wasn't this kid suspended? This could have been avoided!
Can't you just see the headlines?
So, the school gets sued for millions and the principal loses his cushy six-figure income because he gave the kid a break.
But it was all worth it because the principal exercised the "spirit of the law". Not in today's world, amigo. Those days are long gone.