Fighting At School

Injustice is something I just can't abide.

Too many times I've seen students unjustly suspended for fighting at school.  If an adult is attacked in the street, the law recognizes that right to self defense--do we expect less of children?  California education code doesn't, but I've had more than a few school administrators over the years tell me they can always find some reason to justify suspending both students in a fight.  I doubt that many people are attacked at school without some cause, but to me the issue is whether the attacked student did anything at school to merit being physically attacked.  As I said, California Education Code (Section 48900) agrees with me that students have the right to defend themselves:

ARTICLE 1. Suspension or Expulsion [48900 - 48927] ( Article 1 repealed and added by Stats. 1983, Ch. 498, Sec. 91. )

48900.

A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:

(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person.

(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another, except in self-defense...

It bothers me when administrators find some flimsy reason to suspend both students--in the name of fairness?--rather than doing what's right.

As shown above, California's law has been on the books for decades, but in my experience isn't enforced at all.  Georgia has a new Supreme Court ruling, perhaps victims there will be better off than those in California:

Georgia’s highest court took up an issue that has drastically altered the life trajectories of countless students, sending a message that they cannot be expelled for fighting if they can prove they acted in self-defense.

Under state law, it is not illegal to fight, as long as the blows are landed in self-defense. The Supreme Court observed that state law applies even in schools.

“Georgia’s self-defense law does not require a person to retreat when the person reasonably believes she is at risk of harm from another’s imminent use of unlawful force,” says the decision released Monday in a case initiated by an unnamed student who was expelled by Henry County Schools. The court did not radically alter the law, but set a precedent by ruling for the first time on a school disciplinary case, effectively putting school districts on notice...

“The impact for the state is that self-defense is an available defense for students in disciplinary matters,” he said. “That’s always been the law in Georgia. However, many school districts before this came out, like Henry County, ignored the law.” He said school boards across the state have “completely ruined” students’ future prospects by “willfully refusing to comply with the law.”

More very interesting details are at the link.