It might not be.Fede wrote: And the big boy only defended himself with one move. He did nothing else after that, but leave the scene.
That, in law, would be seen as justifiable self-defence.
In college I took a karate class and the spokeswoman for the campus police was invited in one day to give us a lecture about self defense laws. In my state, in the U.S., the laws let you defend yourself only with what is minimally necessary.
You can't "teach someone a lesson".
They are doing what settles the matter in the easiest way, for *them*. It is an old problem. Parents of bullies often refuse to believe their kid is the problem. The kids don't get punished or not punished enough. To a kid, a day off of school for a suspension is a gift. So, bullies tend not to get discouraged by suspensions. The only power the school has to settle a problem with persistent bullying is to expel the bully. However, that is a solution that extends the hassle for school administrators so they don't take it. Parents of expelled children fight back hard. They are being deprived of their right to a public education, their tax money to pay for that education and they face the expense/inconvenience of finding another school. So, they fight.I think the school handled the matter unwisely.
But where is there wisdom when a school turns a blind eye?
The school just wants to be done with the issue, so they mollify the bully's parents by also punishing the victim. You are starting off with a kid who is already beaten down, so the school through his parents condeming him will push him further down which will make resistance less likely and settle the situation.