Senseless acts of violence

I wonder if my son, who is rather gentle and trusting, will begin to not trust girls.

After all, in the past four months a 16 year old girl hit him on the right ear, perforating it in 2 places.

Yesterday he was in the school cafetorium when a girl his own age, Clair, hit him on the forehead.

Why was Clair provoked? Because, apparently, Mr. C said he was thinking of inviting another girl to the Halloween dance.

Now Clair doesn't even like my Mr. C. She told the principal she doesn't know why she hit a boy she calls "boxhead."

Detention. It doesn't seem like she's being punished enough, but frankly, I could give a flying fig for Clair. It's the boy, chuckling with his friends, red mark on his forehead, dizzy in the nurses office, talking to the principal -- he matters to me.

As your kids grow, they spend more and more time away from you -- mostly beneficial, sometimes boring, and occasionally traumatic. Let this not have been one of the last.