I think most would agree that fighting should not be tolerated at school. Fighting is harmful, disruptive, and in opposition to healthy, safe school environments. It has become the norm for school administrators to equally punish both parties involved in school fighting regardless of who the aggressor was or what the circumstances were.

Kids who defend themselves in school fights are being charged with disorderly conduct or assault even if they were not the aggressor. They are being told that they must walk away from a physical attack. They are being passed off to the juvenile court system with the intention to teach kids who defend themselves not to repeat action when they are assaulted at school and that the consequences will escalate if they do.

Utah is a “stand your ground” state and this sounds like an infringement on the legal right of the child to self-defense when assaulted. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars and court resources since we pay teachers to educate kids and take care of school disciplinary issues. Our educators should distinguish between behaviors that result from adolescent immaturity, and behaviors truly delinquent and in need of court involvement. School educators may need to retake child development 101: “The frontal lobe’s ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between better or best action, and suppress socially unacceptable responses does not reach full maturity until age 25.

Maybe educators should be teaching kids who have been involved in school fighting appropriate conflict resolution skills instead of taking punitive action at the expense of the taxpayer and courts. Utah kids who defend themselves are being suspended, expelled, and arrested. They are often viewed in the same light as the aggressor, but this is an infringement on the right to self-defense. Florida is also a stand your ground state. In a recent case involving a boy who got into a fight with a girl on a school bus, a Florida court ruled that the boy could claim self-defense under Florida’s stand your ground law. Maybe school officials should appear in court to justify why school fights require court action when children act in a way the law affirmatively protects.

Stephanie Schaible

Harrisville