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No.Zero tolerance polices are categorically unjust. They are the result of lazy, stupid, negligent school administrators who are more afraid of a lawsuit than justice, and too derelict in their duty to ascertain the truth of the situation, favoring a quick, cathartic solution.“There’s no excuse for fighting” isn’t even a good theory, it’s utterly moronic. I’d love to hear some admin explaining that theory while getting his teeth smashed in.Zero tolerance policies do nothing but victimize students twice, first when the bully attacks them, and then again when the school punishes them for having the audacity to try to defend themselves. Further, it erodes trust in the school and in authority figures in general, for not only will the school fail to keep that child safe, it will harm that child as punishment for being harmed by the bully.Worse, bullies aren’t stupid. Often times they figure out how to antagonize their victim or provoke them into violence with verbal or unnoticed physical harassment, in order to get the victim punished by the school.So if a child fights back against a bully, the school should ascertain what the fuck actually happened, and presuming the child was in fact defending him or herself, that should be the end of it for that particular child. The bully then gets dealt with, while Mommy and Daddy take the bullied student out for ice cream.Zero tolerance polices are nothing but conditioning children to be helpless. It teaches them that they must be victims. That if they aren’t good little victims, that the system will punish them.How fucked up is that?Some bullies you can talk to and get them to back off. But just as in the world of adults, there are some child bullies who only understand violence, and the only way to deal with them is violence.Oh, sure, maybe Bobby Bully’s dad is a drunk who beats him and he externalizes his rage and feelings of helplessness by repeating that pattern of behavior onto other children. Well, so fucking what? Just because Bobby has a shit father doesn’t make it okay for him to crack Suzie Student’s skull or break Nathan Nerd’s arm. Fuck Bobby. It’d be nice to help the little shit out, but only after he stops tormenting other students. Until then he’s a threat to the others and shouldn’t be allowed off his leash in the general population.Because quite frankly I’d rather see Bobby’s life utterly ruined by his father and the juvenile justice system than let him ruin the lives of the other students, forcing them to live in terror of the next time Bobby has an “episode” and beats someone into the hospital because daddy broke a beer bottle over his head last night.So if a student defends himself, or even defends another student, he should not be punished, ever. Not if you actually care about justice or student safety.Original question-Should a child be punished for fighting back against a bully?

When my younger sister was in primary school, I used to meet my mom at her school most Fridays since I finished early.One Friday mom was asked to work alittle longer than normal and she agreed so I had to pick up my sister. She told the teacher the day before that I would pick her up and everything was done.My sister's school at the time ran a password project. So at the start of the school year you would set up three different passwords with the school so if the teacher didn't recognise the person picking up the child they could use the password instead. Mom made sure I knew these and I did.I got to the school in plenty of time, waited for my sister's class (always the last one out when she had this teacher). When it came to my sister coming out, she pointed at me. The teacher then pushed my sister back towards the classroom. She was the only child left but her friends parents stayed with me.I went up to the teacher and asked if there was a problem. She replied that she didn't know me so I can't take my sister. I replied what about the passwords, she said that she didn't have access to all of her classes passwords.At this point I was getting annoyed, my sister is crying since she just wants to go home with me but this teacher won't let her.The other parents who have known me for years step in and say I am her sister. The staff from that school even remembered me from when I was there, and the next door neighbour to my sister's god father was this teachers assistant.None of this was good enough for this teacher, my sister was took to the office and I had to leave school property till our parents were contacted about this unknown about pick up, even though the teacher was told.I waited seconds and my sister was let out to me by another teacher. I straight away knew they hadn't called anyone due to the fact that my parents haven't called my mobile phone to check that everything is ok.My sister was really upset and I spent some time calming her down before we went home.On Monday my mom went to the school and complained about the teacher saying “She wasn't told" when she was and the password not being used and then making all the fuss then not calling anyone.After this I started picking my sister up most Fridays and she never stopped her again.When she started the final year in this school, again we had the password list sent out to write down the passwords for that year. My mom and most of the parents in my sister's class, just wrote “whats the point!” in a marker pen all over it and sent it back.Within a few days we had a meeting explaining that the password policy will be in place better this year and that these are needed to keep the child safe. One of the other parents stood up and said, safe from what? Their own sister? The meeting ended soon after and the passwords stopped.I wouldn't have minded for what the teacher did but:My sister pointed me out and said I was her sister.I had the passwords in order to take my sister.A lot of people knew me and all said the same thing.The teacher was told.They made a fuss about having to call mom and they never did.This one teacher didn't follow the schools policy and made my sister scared that she wouldn't be allowed to go home with me and really upset.

Twenty minutes into class, a boy suddenly jumped up from his seat, ran across the room, and started pounding his fists on the back of another boy. The victim’s only defense was to put his hands up over his head and duck his head forward to try to avoid the blows.I have a radio and backup, but staff are about 60 seconds (or more) away.As I moved toward them, the aggressor grabbed his victim by the head and tried to pound his head into the table. He succeeded once before I wrapped my arms around him, picked him up off the floor, and carried him out the room.I tapped on the window of the classroom next door, and the woman there immediately called on her radio. I put the boy down, told him to take a breath, and stood in front of the door, so he could not return to the classroom.“You good?” I asked him.Head down, he nodded. When a staff member arrived, the boy walked back with him saying, “I told you I was going to fuck him up.”I stepped inside the classroom, called for a nurse, checked on the injured boy, took a breath, and went about the work of trying to soothe the remaining students in the class.What should be disturbing is that most of the students showed almost no outward signs of distress. I find it frightening that it is likely they had seen violence so many times before, it’s just life for them.I have seen a lot of such students in my institutions.Most of my students should be classified as “emotionally disturbed” (if it meant they could receive regular therapeutic services and will not be discriminated against because of the label). Most are not so classified. I’m sure you know (or imagine) if this event happened in a “regular” 5th or 6th grade, the attacker would probably be removed from the school.But where does he go then?Some school districts do maintain ED classrooms, but such a placement (in fact, any intervention) usually requires a labyrinthian, slow, and ponderous movement through our special education process (in California). Many districts can’t afford such luxuries. Many teachers have to struggle to find the time and energy to carry the process forward. In some schools such violence occurs often. The behavioral challenges are so significant, schools and administrators have to pick their battles and it may take multiple such incidents before definitive action takes place.California educational codes have a lot of territory to cover. As a classroom teacher, the code says I am responsible for the child who was attacked as well as the attacker. I am supposed to keep them both safe.What does that mean in such a situation? In my mind, it means I have to use the minimal amount of force necessary. People far from such students and classrooms often believe teachers can’t “put hands on” students. Between the two beliefs (can and can’t) there is a lot of grey area. Each state, county, school district, and school draws a different line of appropriate conduct. Corporal punishment is still allowed in 19 (mostly southern) states, though I will not become an advocate for that—I would never physically punish a child. I would intervene, however. I am compelled to act.I have had principals tell me it’s OK to allow a student to be pounded on for 60 seconds, suggesting it is not our job to intervene. I have had my hand slapped quite a few times over the years for involving myself in fights between students. Usually, just pushing between the combatants is enough, but not always.I ask you to put yourself in that moment. I have found that in classrooms where it is known (by students) that the teacher will not intervene, fights happen more often. Preemptive and effective discipline (kicking students out of class for making threats for example) relies heavily on the administrator’s effectiveness as well as the student body’s perception of the legitimate authority of the school. Choose quickly.Could such actions open you up to legal action, job discipline, physical injury, and/or parental criticism? Of course they can, but there is also the burden of every other child in that class internalizing the fact that you, the teacher, authority, and adult in the room did not act immediately to keep a child safe.What did you choose? What did you do?Many of my students over the years carry with them the heavy burdens of serious mental illnesses, PTSD, traumatic life experiences, and the awful results of growing up in poverty.This often means, for them, attacking another child is justifiable or reasonable. That is their code. That idea is deeply embedded in their belief system.I often discuss issues of fairness with my middle and high school students. As a topic, it is incredibly likely to come up, because achieving fairness is nigh impossible, students encounter unfair treatment all the time, students claim unfair treatment all the time, and younger students especially hold tight to the belief that we adults can and should make the world fair.We can’t do that.It is not fair that teachers have to struggle in such a miasma, and it is not fair that some students live there all the time, but both are a fact of life in some schools.Understand my point. It is very easy to dictate a policy of teachers never “putting hands” on a child. It is much more difficult to stand back and let a child be harmed when you could have done something.In such a muddled world—amid all of the noise, rules, district policies, and contradictory voices—I would argue reasonable force is sometimes reasonable……and entirely necessary.***per district policy, any principals, teacher actions, students, or acknowledgement of the reality mentioned in this answer are entirely fictitious.