13 Year Old Son Was Tripped on Purpose!!!

I think it's the same as starting a fight also. He should be suspended for causing bodily harm to another student.

I do not see it as a child coming up and punching another in the face. My guess is if they are like my boys of the same age they were probably goofing around and didn't even give it a second thought that he could get hurt and was just trying to be silly.

I bet if you ask the child who tripped your son, he probably feels bad that your son got hurt. Even kids at 13 don't always think things all the way through.

I think he should get some kind of in school suspension for a day or something and a written apology to your son but I wouldn't go farther than that.

I'm sorry he got hurt and I hope he is feeling better today!

The boy should be suspended. If this doesn't work, the next time her hurts someone, he needs to be sent to alternative school.

If the parents are as bad as you indicate, this is their fault, D.. Someone should take them to court and be made to pay money as a consequence.

Dawn

What a horrible choice this boy made. And at this age, he knows better. BUT, I bet the kid didn't think it would be this bad, honestly. I don't think I would say it is like punching someone in the face, but this is still bad. The key in my opinion is that this is the perfect opportunity to TEACH him this is bad - and suspension may be the ticket!

My husband would tell our son to go punch him, but that is probably not the best idea. =)

I cannot stand people like his parents who then produce children like this. I may be making assumptions but based on how you are describing them...I can imagine....

I am SO sorry your boy had to deal with that. Has he ever had any problems with this kid in the past? What about this kid, has he been in trouble a lot? If this is his first time doing something like this, do you think he should be suspended? I know you are really really mad (and boy would I be too) I am just asking, trying to think about it objectively instead of had it happened to my son. Again....I really am so sorry. But trust me, your boy will get over it quickly. His knees will heal and he will be his old self again soon.

Where were your son and this other boy running btw? Outside or in the school?

ETA: And I totally agree with B - who cares if the parents yell at soccer games. They should pay for the clothes, and their son should pay them back by working around the house.

Do they still have in school suspensions? I ask because the problem with a traditional suspension is it is a burden on a parent that doesn't care in the first place. Having it in school may have a better chance of mom backing up that what junior did is wrong. Sure it may still be lip service but it is better than him staying home and mom bitching that it is so unfair that the school suspend him.

Oh, if you can't tell I think the child should be suspended.

he sounds like an unpleasant kid. but i disagree that it's the same thing as punching a kid in the face. it was an escalating scenario of one kid making a bad decision (to run flat out) and another one making an even worse one. it was probably not premeditated, just a very poorly conceived impulse.
but it IS the sort of things kids do. that doesn't mean it shouldn't be addressed or that it's okay. but 13 year olds don't have great judgement, and think many stupid things are very funny.
i'm glad the principal is angry and is handling it. i think you should let her. your job and your focus are on your son, not what happens to the other kid. you really don't know how he felt about it. he might be agonized with remorse.
i do find it odd that you'd ask a 'nice' parent to replace your son's jeans, but won't ask nasty ones. maybe once you've moved past your natural anger over your poor son's injury, you can muster up a little compassion for the boy who lives with THOSE people.
khairete
S.

So they yell and swear - so what?
Why should you let that intimidate you?
You replace his jeans and bill them for it - hand a copy of the receipt to them in front of the principal - you accept cash.
They are lucky they don't have any doctors bills they need to be paying for the injuries their kid caused to your son.
The school must have a policy in place regarding bullying/fighting, so the punishment might be spelled out already.
Depending on if this is a first offense or not there might be an in school suspension or detention.
If this kid's pulled this before, he might be due for a suspension.

D.,

Many people say that your son "was not supposed to be running full force", or "kids at this age do that, blah, blah, blah.."..........I am sorry but any of these statements are excuses for a child of this age. These actions, impulses or behaviors are NOT OK . We are talking H. about the action of the boy who tripped another one on purpose, people do that on purpose because is "funny", or just "cool", and if this kid thinks this way, he needs to be taught that this action IS NOT OK,how? talking to his parents, and suspension, AND the parents should be addressed clearly about this, parents have responsibility also on this since the kid is 13 or something. He still needs guidance and discipline.
I agree that we have to let our children to grow up, let them learn about life and defend themselves.....but in such instances like this, they have to be reminded that certain things are not allowed to occur, they can cause accidents or worst; and yes, we as parents we have to to let them develop "conflict resolution", maturity,etc... BUT this is NOT for this situation, this is just a not acceptable behavior. Period.
D., you did right. However, I wouldn't ask for replacing the jeans nor money or else, you just did what you had to do. You will never get anything else from the parents of the boy, just make sure the principal and his parents will do something to teach the boy.
I hope your kid is feeling better.

It sounds like maybe you should chalk the jeans up to a loss, but the school and the boy's parents are the ones that decide his in-school punishment/discipline. In spite of what he did to your son, due to privacy laws you and your son are NOT entitled to know what discipline measures will be taken.

It's good that you immediately took your son to the nurse and filled out the report AND got the principal involved. Good job, Mom.

In high school, we tripped people all of the time. They tripped us. We joked. We teased. We never bullied.

While I agree that this was a bit much and bad judgement on the kid's part for tripping someone running full force. He's 13. They are not adults. They can't reason like adults. They aren't allowed to drive yet - thank God.

I think you did the right thing filing an accident report. I would feel the same way. I am a momma bear, but you have to realize that you went as far as you needed to. Let go of the anger. Let go of the outcome. You, your son and this other kid have all learned valuable lessons.

Is suing someone appropriate in this case? I don't think so. Turn the situation around. What if your son made this decision. You would be embarrassed and livid, but would YOU want to be sued?

I'm pretty sure he will get suspended. Hurting another child is not tolerated at all. And neither is bullying.

However, kids don't always think things through. They act on impulse. Not that my son would have done this, but my son has ADHD - scoring really high on the impulsive side. It's always terrified me that he would do something stupid without thinking and get hurt. I'm always harping on thinking about the consequences! But, I think most kids, esp at this age, don't always think.

Sorry for your son's injuries. Good luck.

Why is anyone blaming your son for running? That's a healthy thing to be doing. And so what if the tripping was an impulse. Punishment is a way to teach people to control their impulses. I'd say something like 2 weeks detention. The kid is 13, not 5. Who says he was doing it to be funny and not mean? And even if he was doing it to be funny, it's not so he should be punished.

man if i pitched a fit over everytime my son got hurt by other kids...yea hes 13 but hes still a kid! your son shouldnt have been running unless it was PE. the boy probally wasnt trying to hurt your son, but just messing around. Im with Stacey B on this one...

I'm sorry your son was hurt by this kid. You are trying to rationalize adult thought with 13 year old boy behavior. Doesn't compute. Why did the kid trip your son? He thought it would be funny period. He never thought someone could get hurt. I don't think the kid was maliciously trying to injury your son. Stupid, yes punching him in the face without him seeing it NO. IMO that is completely different. Had your son every had words or issues with this kid? If so, then I might change my thoughts a little.

With all of that, why was your son running? In addition, after this happened, why didn't he report this and get his injuries cleaned? Also, if you had to ice his knees for hours, is there something more serious going on?

I think what the kid did was stupid. I do and I'm so sorry your son was hurt. But quite frankly, I'm not sure about suspending the kid. I'm really not. I definitely think detention (several) would be in order but I also would like more information before I totally go out there. What where they exactly doing? Playing, horsing around?

As for the parents and paying for the pants. No, I would not go that route. Regardless of their behavior at soccer games. If yelling and swearing at games was wrong, no parent would be able to go!

13 year old boys do really crappy things to each other.
I have friends who are teachers and this is a really hard age.
Hormones.
Jockeying for position.
My son had some boys doing things to him and what's weird is that my son was bigger. He could have squashed them like bugs.
But, he didn't.
He didn't just lay down and take it, either, trust me. The kids who thought being "tough guys" got in-school suspension. That meant that they sat in the principal's office all day doing school work and they even ate their lunch there. They were allowed bathroom breaks, etc, but they weren't sent home to watch cartoons or sleep in and do their own thing.

My son is now a senior in high school and mentors other kids. He is friends with the kids who did things like trip him and try to show their false bravado.

I, personally, wouldn't ask to recover the cost of the jeans. In-school suspension is far more effective, in my opinion, especially if the other parents aren't concerned about any of it.

It's my guess your son will weather this. I'm a mom too and I know how upsetting it can be, but if you handle this through the school, since it appears to be a first time occurance, I think your son will be all right.

None of us like our babies getting hurt. But, I was lucky to have the insight of friend teachers of kids this age. Even girls get mean. That doesn't make it okay, I'm not saying that, but you don't want to go overboard with the "victim" thing.

It happened. The other boy might have thought it was funny and didn't really mean any harm. If he did, then HE will be the one with issues regarding fitting in, etc.

Your son plays hockey. Things can get much rougher on the ice.

I think your son will be okay if you are. I'm not saying the boy tripping him was right, but unless it continues, I would let it go.

Just my opinion.

I have a 14 year old son and your story makes me want to hug yours!!!

I'm so glad that you went back into the school so that the proper people their could actually see the injuries right after they had happened. I think the key here is follow up. Check back with the principal to see what is being done. Unfortunately, I have found that at times even though the teachers, etc. act like they are going to do something, they just don't follow through. (Although I will say that I sent an e-mail last year to my 4th Graders teacher, really just letting her know what was going on and MAN did they jump on that situation. I guess you just never know.)

Stick up for your son, the love he feels through your actions will help him through the situation.

My suggestion about the jeans, because you've mentioned "knowing of" the family I probably wouldn't contact them to ask for payment. HOWEVER, if they do the right thing and have their son apologize and/or apologize themselves, I think I would mention that a brand new pair of jeans costing $$ was ruined because of this incident.

Best of Luck,

M.

Sorry but your son was not wrong for running. Kids like to run. Similar issue happened to my younger son by my older son and almost broke his nose. We ended up in the emergency room for several hours. Luckily just a contusion but his nose and both eyes were black. My ex had taught my older son that this is funny to do. After he saw what it did he realized it isn't and someone could get seriously hurt. The boy should be punished at least a few days in school suspension. Good Luck with the replacement of the pants but can't hurt to inform them that if it continues to happen you pursue further legal actions. I've noticed that some parents let their kids do whatever they want and don't care until it hits their pocket book.

I am so sorry for your son. Not only was he physically hurt, but I'm sure he was embarrassed as well! That part will take the longest to heal.

I will say that one of my first thoughts was that your son probably shouldn't have been running. I don't know where he was, but I know when I went to school, the only running that was done was during PE. The school is just too crowded for kids to be running and he must have been running fast and hard.

I think the other boys should get in-house suspension, not at home suspension. In-house is much worse for the kid - sitting in the principal's office all day under a watchful eye.

I was also thinking that they should write a letter of apology to your son, but that would just bring focus to your son and with the other boys' parents' disposition, I wouldn't want to do that.

They should, however, have to write an essay on the dangers of tripping people and how they feel about having hurt someone. That way they are at least having to think about what they did.

Kids trip each other all the time. I've seen it. They also bully each other all the time. I see no reason to let tripping a child be unpunished at all. It's dangerous, kids know it's dangerous and yet they do it. They need to be taught that you don't do things like this to others but you can play but on the other hand most of that is now considered dangerous by someone. I would hope the school punishes this and makes the boy work to buy the new jeans. However he can earn the money and he might think about it in the future. This reminds me of pulling a chair out from someone sitting down. We had that all the time at school and one time a girl was hurt very badly by falling full force on her tail bone. In our day kids were paddled and suspended. Seemed to work much better than today's punishments.

I feel and and understand you pain. Since this happened at school and you have talked to the principal then I see it that your in control not the other parents. Their kids are in the wrong and I would keep pushing the school system for justice in your sons case. When it puts the other parents at an inconvience then it will bother them. As far as your son I do understand he has been done wrong but teach him next time that to retaliate. I always tell my daughter "Dont start anything but don't take anything either". I hope he is feeling better soon and don't stop pushing the school system because your his only hope.

Updated

I feel and and understand you pain. Since this happened at school and you have talked to the principal then I see it that your in control not the other parents. Their kids are in the wrong and I would keep pushing the school system for justice in your sons case. When it puts the other parents at an inconvience then it will bother them. As far as your son I do understand he has been done wrong but teach him next time that to retaliate. I always tell my daughter "Dont start anything but don't take anything either". I hope he is feeling better soon and don't stop pushing the school system because your his only hope.

I assume this was after school while your son was waiting for you to pick him up. I am sure he was not suppose to be running full force. Why did your son not go to a teacher to get cleaned up? If he was in pain all night I would think his damage was worse than scraped up. Usually that only throbs for an hour at the most? If it was at a time where it was ok for your son to be running around or the teachers said it was ok then and only then would I ask for the pants to be replaced. Otherwise the running when he wasnt suppose to dismisses the need for replacement on the other parents. I do not agree that this was as bad a spunching him in the face. I do how ever think he should get detention. Although here your son would most likely get in some sort of trouble for running unless it was premitted. The pants most likely would not have ripped if he was walking. Either way I hope the principle talks to the boy about how to treat others. Our big thing in school was "pantsing" where one would pull the pants of another. Embarassing but I dont think anyone ever got HURT like your son did. Being in pain all night makes me wonder if it wasnt something deeper.

He should be expelled from all public schools in your county-super simple-he's a bully and a trouble maker, and he sounds like a bit of a sociopath.

Of course in today's "modern" schools there is no corporal punishment like there was years ago. With corporal punishment (Swats with the bored of education) at least he would feel the pain of his actions.

Today, I doubt he would have any more happen to him than a scolding. Too bad.

Yes, he should have to buy your son a new pair of jeans, but I doubt that will actually happen.

Sorry this happened to your son. Hope he gets to feeling better soon. Good luck to you and yours.