Adult Slapping a Child

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: MD

My 12 y/o son was slapped by an adult at his bus stop. I received a call from friday morning telling me to hurry to the bus stop that some man just hit my child. I made it to the bus stop, my son and two of my step children were there along with other students that ride the bus. A man approaches me and says " I open hand slapped your son." I told him I had a real problem with this. I took a photo of him and his license plate. Police were already in route. Witnesses said that the man pulled over when my son wouldn't step out of the street. According to the witnesses, the man pulls over gets out of his car and proceeds towards my son, yelling " get the **** out of the road, I'm tired of this shit." My son says " we didn't even do anything." The man continues with "your a pussy boy." And continues to verbally assault him. Supposedly taunting him challenging him to fight and very close to my sons face. My son pushes the man away with one hand. His other arm, dominant arm is in a sling from an elbow injury the previous day. The police arrive, my son is crying and clearly agitated. The officer asks my son why he is crying? The officer speaks to my son, then me then the adult male. After hearing everyone's version of the story. The officer tells me " if I have to write a report, I'm gonna charge all parties." I didn't pursue things because I didn't want my child to have a criminal record due to pushing an adult away from him. However, after school was over I waited at the bus stop to make sure there weren't any problems and asked the kids that were there if they would be willing to write a statement of what occurred. After reading what these kids wrote I am furious! This mans intent was malicious from the start. What did he intend to do? Mind you, there isn't a side walk at this bus stop. You are either standing on someone's property or you are standing in the street. I'm not saying that this couldn't have been avoided had my son just moved but that doesn't mean he should be berated with vulgarity and in my opinion verbally assaulted.this a grown man! It infuriates me that this man hit my son, he thinks it's ok because he did with an open hand and he had the audacity to say to me that he thought my child was 16. I found this astounding, considering, the man had just told me he has complained to the school several times and if he had, he would know that these are middle schoolers, not high schoolers.! Anyway, I know I am rambling and I apologize. My question is: although I initially denied pursuing legal action can I still do so now, and how do I go about it? Also, what are people's thoughts on this? Should I just let this person get away with this? Am I being a over protective mother? Do I have leg to stand on in court? I apologize if I've posted in the wrong category. I posted here because I was told that pursuing this would mean my son would be charged with second degree assault.

Nobody can guess what will or won't happen; you can either make a police report and let them deal with it, or not.

As far as you obtaining statements from the other kids, that's really not going to help you and you are at a disadvantage to begin with - you weren't there.

Am I reading this right?

Your son physically assaulted the man and THEN got slapped in the face?

If that's the case let it go and get over it.

Teach your son to move to the curb when a car is coming.

So your son and his buddies thought they were the shit and blocked the road to traffic, when someone trying to travel the road who has obviously encountered your son or his idiot friends before stops, your son assaults him? I think your kid should be put in a juvenile detention for the weekend and you should be forced to take parenting classes.

We dealt with these idiot kids late at night passing through the projects on the way to the hospital. You hit the high beams, the horn and the accelerator, they scatter like roaches.

Thank you for your input.

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Yes, my son pushed the man away from him. Btw, I didn't think it would be this hard to hear people's opinions but I wanted unbiased opinions. Thank you.

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Quoting Tryan0311

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Yes, my son pushed the man away from him. Btw, I didn't think it would be this hard to hear people's opinions but I wanted unbiased opinions. Thank you.

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OK, let's try this a different way. The law does not allow you to strike someone because they yell at or are rude to you. You cannot claim self defense if you do so. In my state, striking someone under these circumstances would constitute the crime of Battery, a misdemeanor. No doubt, the person who was hit would claim they struck back in self defense, which could be lawful.

Based solely on your description of events it sounds like the officer decided all parties acted unlawfully. All things being equal he gave you a choice of everyone being charged or everyone walking away. It sounds like everyone chose the latter.

Were you to try to pursue this where I am, the District Attorney would most likely decline prosecution as this appears to be a case of mutual combat. Both parties were willing participants, both are equally culpable, neither are true victims and little good would come from prosecution.

With the child having pushed the adult prior to the slap, and different accounts of what happened none of which involved any prior physical contact, the police officer apparently chose to express that he would cite both the adult and the child, or write up a report but not recommend charges against anybody. The police may be willing to initiate charges against the adult if the matter were pursued by a parent, but that could also mean that they refer the minor to juvenile court.

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Quoting L-1

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No doubt, the person who was hit would claim they struck back in self defense, which could be lawful.

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"One who seeks to justify an assault on the ground that he acted in self-defense must show that he used no more force than the exigency reasonably demanded. The belief of a defendant in an action for assault that the plaintiff intended to do him bodily harm cannot support a plea of self-defense unless it was such a belief as a person of average prudence would entertain under similar circumstances." Baltimore Transit Co. v. Faulkner, 179 Md. 598, 600, 20 A.2d 485, 487 (1941). The push might be characterized as self-defense, depending on such factors as how close the irate adult came to the child, and what he was saying and doing at the time. The slap? You slap people because you're angry, not because you're fearful.

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Quoting L-1

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Were you to try to pursue this where I am, the District Attorney would most likely decline prosecution as this appears to be a case of mutual combat.

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That's not at all likely, either. It was not mutual combat. Neither party consented to being touched. There was no actual fight.

Without more details, it is of course impossible to render an informed opinion. However, I seem to be getting a bit different mental picture of the incident, based on OP, than others here. Certainly, a lot would depend on the size and age difference between the 12 y/o and the man. Is the 12 y/o unusually large and developed? Is the man slight of stature, elderly, or disabled? If (as in my mental image) the child is of average stature for his age, and the man is between 21 and 50 and of average stature and physical ability, I see no way that the man could reasonably claim self defense even if the child did push him. The only reasonable “self defense” action I would buy would be nothing more than maybe grabbing the child by the arms to restrain him from further assaultive behavior.

On the other hand, depending on circumstance (how physically intimidating the man was acting, what the man actually said, whether the child felt “cornered,” etc.), the child’s push could well be viewed as an act of self defense even without an actual prior physical assault. If the child reasonable felt fear that a physical assault was imminent, the push might well have been a reasonable self defense response. That being said, from the description given, it sounds like the kid’s push was an act of aggression, not defense.

It sounds to me like the kid was being an ass by blocking traffic and was defiant and/or belligerent when chastised for his behavior. Now, while many may feel that this sort of delinquent behavior is deserving of a bit of corporal punishment (and I would tend to agree!), only a parent or legal guardian can legally administer such punishment (within certain limitations). And, OP’s choice of wording implies that the “slap” was to the head or face, not the ass.

It sound to me like both parties were behaving badly and the cop just wanted it all to go away. Since neither party suffered any real injury (other than to their respective egos), it does not sound like criminal charges were warranted. Although argument can be made that, technically, a crime was committed by both parties, criminal charges would be a waste of a lot of people’s time – after all the paperwork and processing, the prosecutor would read the report and decline to file charges. So, when mom shows up and demands the cop “do something!” he provides the option of A – everyone let it go and move on, or B – both parties get charged and let the prosecutor decide. It sounds reasonable to me for everyone to just quit acting like spoiled $h*ts and let it go – and the options provided by the cop encouraged that outcome.

I do not know what I am seeing this differently than anyone else. However, here we have a child with one arm in a sling, whose personal space is being invaded by an angry adult, who is a stranger, and the child pushes the adult away and then gets slapped, in the face, by the adult. I am really surprised that the police officer let it go like that.

Even if the children were deliberately baiting the guy by standing too far into the street, there are no sidewalks and the man should never have gotten out of his car. Who does something like that? What stranger gets out of their car and starts trouble with children? I personally feel that the police officer handled this poorly.

What lesson has this child learned? That the police won't help you if some stranger hits you? Seriously, even if the child was large for his age he had one arm in a sling? What danger did he pose to this adult stranger?

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Quoting llworking

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I do not know what I am seeing this differently than anyone else. However, here we have a child with one arm in a sling, whose personal space is being invaded by an angry adult, who is a stranger, and the child pushes the adult away and then gets slapped, in the face, by the adult. I am really surprised that the police officer let it go like that.

Even if the children were deliberately baiting the guy by standing too far into the street, there are no sidewalks and the man should never have gotten out of his car. Who does something like that? What stranger gets out of their car and starts trouble with children? I personally feel that the police officer handled this poorly.

What lesson has this child learned? That the police won't help you if some stranger hits you? Seriously, even if the child was large for his age he had one arm in a sling? What danger did he pose to this adult stranger?

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I agree, a person is not wrapped to tight if they pull over, get out and start yelling,, seems its was just kids being kids,, you would think somebody caught this on video nowadays. you might want to ask around, you would be able to get a better understanding of what really took place.

I think that is why the child was simply slapped with an open hand. We are focusing too much on the age 13, not the size of the child. At 13, when I was in a fight, it usually involved being attacked by multiple people, because they knew one was not enough. I could have taken on many adults easily and won.

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Quoting llworking

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I do not know what I am seeing this differently than anyone else. However, here we have a child with one arm in a sling, whose personal space is being invaded by an angry adult, who is a stranger, and the child pushes the adult away and then gets slapped, in the face, by the adult. I am really surprised that the police officer let it go like that.

Even if the children were deliberately baiting the guy by standing too far into the street, there are no sidewalks and the man should never have gotten out of his car. Who does something like that? What stranger gets out of their car and starts trouble with children? I personally feel that the police officer handled this poorly.

What lesson has this child learned? That the police won't help you if some stranger hits you? Seriously, even if the child was large for his age he had one arm in a sling? What danger did he pose to this adult stranger?

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Quoting Disagreeable

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I think that is why the child was simply slapped with an open hand. We are focusing too much on the age 13, not the size of the child. At 13, when I was in a fight, it usually involved being attacked by multiple people, because they knew one was not enough. I could have taken on many adults easily and won.

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The child is not 13, the child is 12...and this was not a group situation where a bunch of children were attacking an adult. This child also had one arm in a sling. Even the adult did not make a claim of anything more than a push.

You have to compare apples to apples.

My take on this is that this was a ticked off adult with anger management issues who got extremely stupid...and a cop that really didn't want to do his job that day.

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Quoting llworking

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I do not know what I am seeing this differently than anyone else. However, here we have a child with one arm in a sling, whose personal space is being invaded by an angry adult, who is a stranger, and the child pushes the adult away and then gets slapped, in the face, by the adult. I am really surprised that the police officer let it go like that.

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I agree with you -- that the adult was way out of line. Under the facts, the child's response may well be properly deemed self-defense. If it were referred to juvenile court and a prosecutor found a case worth pursuing, assuming the child's life (school, home, community, other police contacts) was otherwise stable, I doubt that it would result in more than a caution or benching.

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Quoting llworking

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I personally feel that the police officer handled this poorly.

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The police office gave mom the opportunity to press charges, but warned her that he would have to refer the juvenile for pushing. The officer wasn't there, the adult likely had a different story, and it would not be unreasonable for the officer to make that referral. I don't fault the officer for giving the parties the choice to walk away.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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"One who seeks to justify an assault on the ground that he acted in self-defense must show that he used no more force than the exigency reasonably demanded. The belief of a defendant in an action for assault that the plaintiff intended to do him bodily harm cannot support a plea of self-defense unless it was such a belief as a person of average prudence would entertain under similar circumstances." Baltimore Transit Co. v. Faulkner, 179 Md. 598, 600, 20 A.2d 485, 487 (1941). The push might be characterized as self-defense, depending on such factors as how close the irate adult came to the child, and what he was saying and doing at the time. The slap? You slap people because you're angry, not because you're fearful.

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I didn’t say a self defense claim would stand up, only that it could be made and can muddy the waters in a he said/he said case where the officer was not present to personally witness the matter and must rely on the statement of the combatants.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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It was not mutual combat. Neither party consented to being touched. There was no actual fight.

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In my state, the unlawful use of force against another is considered the crime of battery. Pushing or slapping someone meets the elements of that crime. When two people engage in battery against each and are not acting in self defense of themselves or others (as the officer apparently determined) it is considered a fight within the meaning of our disturbance of the peace law, which is also a misdemeanor. However, when there is nothing more than a push and a slap, our District Attorneys routinely categorize this a mutual combat and decline prosecution. For this reason, actual arrests are rare in such cases unless a suspect strikes an officer trying to break up the fight or commits some other violation.

I take it things are different where you are.

In any case, all of this is moot. The OP asked for opinions as to why the matter was handled the way it was. I am merely offering an explanation as to why this would have been an appropriate disposition of the matter where I am. Again, your mileage may vary depending on local laws and prosecutorial policy.

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Quoting L-1

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I didn’t say a self defense claim would stand up, only that it could be made and can muddy the waters in a he said/he said case where the officer was not present to personally witness the matter and must rely on the statement of the combatants.



In my state, the unlawful use of force against another is considered the crime of battery. Pushing or slapping someone meets the elements of that crime. When two people engage in battery against each and are not acting in self defense of themselves or others (as the officer apparently determined) it is considered a fight within the meaning of our disturbance of the peace law, which is also a misdemeanor. However, when there is nothing more than a push and a slap, our District Attorneys routinely categorize this a mutual combat and decline prosecution. For this reason, actual arrests are rare in such cases unless a suspect strikes an officer trying to break up the fight or commits some other violation.

I take it things are different where you are.

In any case, all of this is moot. The OP asked for opinions as to why the matter was handled the way it was. I am merely offering an explanation as to why this would have been an appropriate disposition of the matter where I am. Again, your mileage may vary depending on local laws and prosecutorial policy.

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Your argument makes sense if we were talking about two adults. However, we are not. We are talking about a 12 year old child and an adult stranger.

by getting out of the car the adult instigated this entire event, you don't do those things, not if your thinking normally

Does a 12 year old become someone entirely different between the hours of 9pm the night before, and 1am the next morning when he turns 13?

Sorry, but its foolish to run with that as a means to mitigate (or aggravate, to be sure) the minor's reasoning. The adult was an idiot, clearly. But the 12 year old is not faultless here, either.

And are we assuming that 12 years old = not capable of "taking on" an adult? That is an incredibly dangerous mindset.

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Quoting L-1

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I didn’t say a self defense claim would stand up, only that it could be made and can muddy the waters in a he said/he said case where the officer was not present to personally witness the matter and must rely on the statement of the combatants.

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Leaving aside the fact that a self-defense argument under the facts as stated really isn't credible, that might be a consideration for the prosecutor who is prosecuting charges against the adult but is otherwise irrelevant. The officer's statement is not described as being, "This could be mutual combat" or "this could be self-defense" -- it was, "If I proceed with charges, I'm citing both the adult and the child."

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Quoting L-1

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When two people engage in battery against each and are not acting in self defense of themselves or others (as the officer apparently determined) it is considered a fight within the meaning of our disturbance of the peace law, which is also a misdemeanor.

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Disturbing the peace is a different criminal offense than battery.

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Quoting L-1

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However, when there is nothing more than a push and a slap, our District Attorneys routinely categorize this a mutual combat and decline prosecution.

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I very much doubt that. If so, the proper would would be "mischaracterize". For example, in California, "Voluntary mutual combat outside the rules of sport is a breach of the peace, mutual consent is no justification, and both participants are guilty of criminal assault." People v. Lucky (1988) 45 Cal.3d 259. "It is also the rule that the apparent consent of a person without legal capacity to give consent, such as a child or insane person, is ineffective." People v. Gray (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 167.

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Quoting llworking

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Your argument makes sense if we were talking about two adults. However, we are not. We are talking about a 12 year old child and an adult stranger.

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Back in the day, it was not all that unusual for a police officer, investigating a domestic or private disturbance, to find two people who had slapped, hit or thrown things at each other but with little or no physical injury, often with both intoxicated, and with each accusing the other of starting the fight, and to decline to arrest or charge either based on the idea of its being "mutual combat". With changed views of domestic violence, mandatory arrest laws, and the like, it's been quite a while since I've heard that phrase used as an excuse not to charge somebody for a fight that attracted police attention. From a legal standpoint, you are apt to hear of "mutual combat" in self-defense cases, where a person who initially chose to enter a fight does not attempt to end the fight or withdraw before causing injury to the other person, or as part of an imperfect self-defense argument to try to reduce a homicide charge based upon hot blood / provocation (perfect self-defense applying when there is no wrongful conduct by the defendant).

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Quoting llworking

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Your argument makes sense if we were talking about two adults. However, we are not. We are talking about a 12 year old child and an adult stranger.

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The law in this area does differentiate because of age.

Nowhere does the law say it is acceptable for a 12 year old child to block traffic, refuse to move and strike someone when requested to comply.

Apparently both intentionally struck each other under circumstances that were not permitted by law. While each had equal rights that should not have been violated, they also had equal responsibilities to each other and society they failed to uphold. You can't take action against one without taking action against the other.

Would you prefer that the District Attorney prosecute both? It would provide the satisfaction you are seeking with respect to the adult and teach your son not to block traffic, to comply when asked to get out of the street and not to strike other people.

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Quoting L-1

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The law in this area does differentiate because of age.

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I have already documented that it does, when the allegation is that the child consented to combat.

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Quoting L-1

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Nowhere does the law say it is acceptable for a 12 year old child to block traffic, refuse to move and strike someone when requested to comply.

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None of which has anything to do with whether the adult should have slapped the child.

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Quoting L-1

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While each had equal rights that should not have been violated, they also had equal responsibilities to each other and society they failed to uphold.

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You are making a large number of assumptions.

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Quoting L-1

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You can't take action against one without taking action against the other.

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That is not correct. A prosecutor could charge one without charging the other.

I could have kicked most adults butts at 12 also. Your story is not a universal application in spite of the vigor with which you defend it. I bet you think Mike Brown was an innocent misunderstood kid also.

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Quoting llworking

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Your argument makes sense if we were talking about two adults. However, we are not. We are talking about a 12 year old child and an adult stranger.

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Quoting llworking

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The child is not 13, the child is 12...and this was not a group situation where a bunch of children were attacking an adult. This child also had one arm in a sling. Even the adult did not make a claim of anything more than a push.

You have to compare apples to apples.

My take on this is that this was a ticked off adult with anger management issues who got extremely stupid...and a cop that really didn't want to do his job that day.

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What worries me here is the implication that size somehow matters - would we tell a 6ft 300lb man that his 5ft 90lb wife is too small to have caused him damage, therefore he has no right to defend himself? There should never be such an assumption. Never.

There's no allegation here that the child was trying to start a fight or that the child caused injury to the man. When you're scared of somebody, slapping them in the face would be an oddly counter-intuitive reaction. Face-slapping is a power play.

clearly the man was not worried about the one armed kid hurting him, that's why he got out of his car, yelled in the kids face and slapped the kid. it would not surprise me if this man had lots of pent up anger and decided to take his rage out on a child who was smaller and only had use one arm. really if theres a kid is in the road, stop, blow the horn, drive around or call the police, don't get out of the car.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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What worries me here is the implication that size somehow matters - would we tell a 6ft 300lb man that his 5ft 90lb wife is too small to have caused him damage, therefore he has no right to defend himself? There should never be such an assumption. Never.

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To me its not the fact that the child was smaller or larger. To me, its the fact that he was a child...and a child with one arm in a sling, to boot.

I would NEVER slap a child in the face, let alone someone else's child. Don't we teach children to scream, yell, run, fight back if a strange adult attacks them or tries to grab them? This was a 12 year old child.

Clearly, my point was missed (I'm not even sure it was noticed, to be blunt).

L, you're focused on the child's age. You actually made a point of saying the child is 12, not 13. What happens? The child automatically falls into a different bracket?

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The child is not 13, the child is 12

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Colour me confused. Obviously, I'm missing something. What happens when he turns 13?

Forget the ages. Self defense universally relies on the premise of disparity of force. Age is irrelevant. ANY 12 year old would pose a legitimate and valid threat to say someone like Stephen Hawking (or anyone else who is wheel-chair bound and has no use of his arms or legs). But that same 12 year old would not pose anywhere near the same threat to an 18 year who is mobile and healthy. Conversely, if there were four or five 12 year olds, now the driver is experiencing a disparity of force. Forget the age, it's 4 or 5 against 1. So the totality of the circumstance determines if there was a threat or not - not someone's age. Would you be calling a 17 year old, 240 lb, 6'4 linebacker "a kid"? Would that same 17 year old be charged for attacking a 40 year old? He's just "a kid", though.

Imaginary threats don't count.

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Quoting PADriver13

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Forget the ages. Self defense universally relies on the premise of disparity of force. Age is irrelevant. ANY 12 year old would pose a legitimate and valid threat to say someone like Stephen Hawking (or anyone else who is wheel-chair bound and has no use of his arms or legs). But that same 12 year old would not pose anywhere near the same threat to an 18 year who is mobile and healthy. Conversely, if there were four or five 12 year olds, now the driver is experiencing a disparity of force. Forget the age, it's 4 or 5 against 1. So the totality of the circumstance determines if there was a threat or not - not someone's age. Would you be calling a 17 year old, 240 lb, 6'4 linebacker "a kid"? Would that same 17 year old be charged for attacking a 40 year old? He's just "a kid", though.

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That's pretty much the point I was trying to make. With one adjustment...

A 12 year old may well be able to "take" an adult down. Totality of circumstances and all that.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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Imaginary threats don't count.

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Neither does the assumption that every 12 year old is unable to pose a threat to an adult.

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Quoting PADriver13

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Forget the ages. Self defense universally relies on the premise of disparity of force. Age is irrelevant. ANY 12 year old would pose a legitimate and valid threat to say someone like Stephen Hawking (or anyone else who is wheel-chair bound and has no use of his arms or legs). But that same 12 year old would not pose anywhere near the same threat to an 18 year who is mobile and healthy. Conversely, if there were four or five 12 year olds, now the driver is experiencing a disparity of force. Forget the age, it's 4 or 5 against 1. So the totality of the circumstance determines if there was a threat or not - not someone's age. Would you be calling a 17 year old, 240 lb, 6'4 linebacker "a kid"? Would that same 17 year old be charged for attacking a 40 year old? He's just "a kid", though.

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This is the point that I was making about age. A 17 year old 240lb 6'4' linebacker is no kid, physically. Although, a 17 year old would likely be charged as an adult anyway.

And to respond to Pro...I was merely correcting the age, not attempting to imply that there is an automatic difference between a 12 and 13 year old.

Taking your side, I do understand not all 12 year olds could lift the back of a VW, drink in bars without being questioned and date woman in their 20's like I did at that age.

You can always contact the officer and advise him/her that you are wanting to pursue the matter. Or get a copy of the report and ask to meet with one of the assistant prosecutors.

Whether this person thought your son was older makes no difference to me. He knew it was a school bus stop because he had already complained about the kids to the school or more likely to the school board. So he knows they are juveniles and apparently he had no fear of them since he stopped his car, approached them and engaged them so aggressively.

Your son may have to face the music himself for his own actions whether that be for battery, impeding traffic or both; that would be up to the prosecutor.

I remember my first new bike. The first thing my mother told me was to stay out of the street with the bike. One day I rode my bike in the street and was hit buy a car. There was no damage to the car, bicycle or myself. The lady pulled right over and and my mother walked over and slapped the shit out of me while screaming "what did I tell you about staying out of the street?". Maybe if OP would correct their son, this event wouldn't have happened? It sounds to me that this kid was in the street blocking traffic and refused to move to the side of the road all while having a shit-ass attitude. I would leave well enough alone and see if sonny boy learned a lesson, because after my ass kicking I learned mine.

I agree 100%. I would hate to see junior graduate into the people who would block the road in the projects at 3am trying to stop cars going to the hospital. I would have run down any one that refused to move after they were warned by the horn, headlights and revved up engine.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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I remember my first new bike. The first thing my mother told me was to stay out of the street with the bike. One day I rode my bike in the street and was hit buy a car. There was no damage to the car, bicycle or myself. The lady pulled right over and and my mother walked over and slapped the shit out of me while screaming "what did I tell you about staying out of the street?". Maybe if OP would correct their son, this event wouldn't have happened? It sounds to me that this kid was in the street blocking traffic and refused to move to the side of the road all while having a shit-ass attitude. I would leave well enough alone and see if sonny boy learned a lesson, because after my ass kicking I learned mine.

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My old neighborhood....the teens were cocky and liked to walk spread out across the street, side by side, and knew there was traffic coming but would not budge. It was even in the neighborhood bulletin thing for parents to address this with their kids.

I heard later that someone in the neighborhood got sick of it, came up behind them at the speed limit, slammed on the brakes while leaning on the horn, burned rubber even....all I know is those kids soon turned very polite when it came to moving when traffic was coming.

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Quoting PandorasBox

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My old neighborhood....the teens were cocky and liked to walk spread out across the street, side by side, and knew there was traffic coming but would not budge. It was even in the neighborhood bulletin thing for parents to address this with their kids.

I heard later that someone in the neighborhood got sick of it, came up behind them at the speed limit, slammed on the brakes while leaning on the horn, burned rubber even....all I know is those kids soon turned very polite when it came to moving when traffic was coming.

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A lot of people seem to be assuming that whatever was going on was automatically the fault of the 12 year old. That the 12 year old had to be behaving in a rude or cocky way. I have a bit of a problem with that.

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Quoting llworking

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A lot of people seem to be assuming that whatever was going on was automatically the fault of the 12 year old. That the 12 year old had to be behaving in a rude or cocky way. I have a bit of a problem with that.

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And I have a bit of a problem with assuming that the kid was Saint Kevin.

I don't believe either statement is correct.

Look. We have a jerk of an adult who slapped the kid - CLEARLY the wrong thing to do.

We have no clue whether or not we're dealing with Saint Kevin or his evil twin. I believe the truth is somewhere in between, and that's why I'm not going to either deify Kevin or condemn StupidBloke to hell. And that does not mean - clearly - that I'm condoning StupidBloke. Or Kevin.

Yet.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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And I have a bit of a problem with assuming that the kid was Saint Kevin.

I don't believe either statement is correct.

Look. We have a jerk of an adult who slapped the kid - CLEARLY the wrong thing to do.

We have no clue whether or not we're dealing with Saint Kevin or his evil twin. I believe the truth is somewhere in between, and that's why I'm not going to either deify Kevin or condemn StupidBloke to hell. And that does not mean - clearly - that I'm condoning StupidBloke. Or Kevin.

Yet.

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You and I will have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't care if a 12 year old is the devil incarnate, an adult simply does not get out of his car and confront a child or children and then strike one of them over something so petty as the children not being close enough to the curb to suit the adult. If the adult feels that the situation is serious, the adult calls the police.

I myself have sometime been vastly annoyed by the behavior of teens or tweens. I once was driving on a semi through street that goes through the middle of our local high school campus after school hours. A team of crossing country racers was training and running along that street. I was smoking a cigarette in my car. One of the students yelled out, "stupid ##itch, no smoking". Another yelled to him, "dude, that was a grownup".

I did not stop my car and get out and confront them. I called up their coach and pointed out that the behavior was not acceptable even if I had not been a "grown up". The coach agreed and dealt with it.

If the guy in this thread wasn't getting the action he wanted by complaining to the school, then its highly likely that they guy's complaints did not have much validity.

I don't assume the kid was at fault, but I won't say he wasn't. The adult sure didn't handle it well either, confronting the kids.

Quote:

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Quoting llworking

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You and I will have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't care if a 12 year old is the devil incarnate, an adult simply does not get out of his car and confront a child or children and then strike one of them over something so petty as the children not being close enough to the curb to suit the adult. If the adult feels that the situation is serious, the adult calls the police.

I myself have sometime been vastly annoyed by the behavior of teens or tweens. I once was driving on a semi through street that goes through the middle of our local high school campus after school hours. A team of crossing country racers was training and running along that street. I was smoking a cigarette in my car. One of the students yelled out, "stupid ##itch, no smoking". Another yelled to him, "dude, that was a grownup".

I did not stop my car and get out and confront them. I called up their coach and pointed out that the behavior was not acceptable even if I had not been a "grown up". The coach agreed and dealt with it.

If the guy in this thread wasn't getting the action he wanted by complaining to the school, then its highly likely that they guy's complaints did not have much validity.

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I do understand where you're coming from. And again I think the guy is a prize prune. But if we're going purely on looks, not every 12 year old looks 12.

(I passed for 15 when I was 11, and I was clubbing when I was 15. And the only time it didn't work was going to a club where the DJ knew me fairly well and asked why we were so happy giddy. My darling sister informed him that it was my 18th birthday. When down like the Titanic, that did).


But yeah - it's essentially a moot point. I admit that.