Sorry to hear Scott, let’s hope your son is ok.

Sounds like you have a good plan, let us know how it turns out.

Yeah, they are. Honest dicks until they learn to be dishonest or pull back.

In your shoes, I would report it to the school, league or whatever entity was in charge of the courts when this happened.

Hope your kid recovers quickly and fully.

^^^^ Doubtful anyone was in charge ... sounds like an unsupervised pick-up game on a school b-ball court during lunch hour.

KC if they were on school grounds someone was in charge. May or may not have been doing their job, but most definitely someone was responsible for those kids.

Mebbe times have changed ... by Jr. High we had free lunch hours ... playing ball outside with no adults present was normal. Outside of gym class or formal sport practices after school.... never was there an adult around....

And we used to beat the crap outta each other playing hardnose tackle football (pick-up games... no pads, etc.) too... so change is good ;)

Yeah .... we had concussions too .... more than I can remember :D

When in school or on school grounds during regular school hours, the school may or may not be responsible for the kids.

A disturbed worthless POS killed some kids in in school in Oxford, MI last year. The school is being sued alleging the school was negligent because, among other things, they knew the kid was disturbed. The school moved to have the suit dismissed saying the sole responsibility for the deaths belongs to the shooter (who pleaded guilty) and that negligence (by the school) does not remove the school’s immunity, anyway. The school filed a second motion to dismiss:

https://news.yahoo.com/oxford-school-district-seeks-dismiss-103912245.html

I agree CB .... a fight in the bathroom, hallway, or outside during lunch is on "the kids", not the school's liability imo.... or even in the classrooms. Usually...

If the school had taken every reasonable step to try to prevent a fight in the bathroom but a fight breaks out anyway, I don’t think the school is responsible.

However, the issue becomes, ‘What does every reasonable step’ look like?

As we know full well, because one person’s ‘reasonable’ is another person’s ‘unreasonable’, it becomes a question for the jury.

Make sure your son keeps playing B-Ball and the opportunity for it to be settled with that guy will present itself some day. All B-Ballers go through the same thing. If your son was to get even, the others will realize this and back him up, its all over, the 3R's get met; Your REP gets RESPECT or REVENGE occurs, the rules of the street and the pick up court are simple.

Per a YT video, Shaq said he beat some kid up in late grade school or middle school.

His mother came down on him pretty hard about the size unfairness of the match up.

He said it was the last time he did that.

Somehow the subject bully needs to get the same message.

Kid playing basketball...anywhere. One takes a single cheap shot. It happens in an instant. No way for the school to prevent unless they wrap kids in bubble wrap and lock them inside in chairs.

When I was a kid, it seems you were physically tested by others every day. It was inescapable and continued into adulthood in other ways.

I similarly stole the ball from an older, bigger kid in the gym (before school playing pick-up) when I was in the 10th grade. He came after me and tried to knock me down but he failed to do so and I stood my ground. He backed off. There was no one around to help, and if I had not stood my ground, I would have been picked on by him (and likely others later...as easy targets are a magnet) for the next 3 years. I have had the same situation when playing with adults. If you want to play sports, you will always run into this type person/situation.

One would be wise to teach kids that these situations happen and how to handle themselves. If they are not able to mentally/physically do so, they need to avoid the situations where they might get hurt. The size and weight disparity between kids is sometimes pretty large, but generally, one can keep from being snatched up and body slammed by some quick avoidance or a push off, elbow, spin, etc. Kids need to know it is ok to defend their space/body and be able to do so on some level. Avoiding being grappled by a much larger person is always a good way to avoid injury or escalation...even as an adult. A push off/creating distance serves one well...and gives the other person time to cool off/rethink their actions.

One way to teach a larger bully to play nice (the kids' language might be NSFW):

https://twitter.com/sierrasprague/status/1038326223888297984

I know a woman who grew up with 3 brothers...let's just say she had no problems with school bullies.

That would be this lady:

https://twitter.com/Enezator/status/1615061326241402908

Good post. I remember becoming so angry that I forgot for an instant whom I was dealing with. But after slamming him hard into the school lockers I didn't seam to have a problem after that. Books and papers all over the hallway. I left right away.

However, I was the recipient of such anger at least 2wice and got my clock cleaned. One time I deserved it. The other time just left me embarrassed and that memory lasted too long.

So my advice to the school kids is avoid trouble but if they must, swing first and as hard as can be. There is a great YT on avoiding confrontation. No link. Let's just say the first move is to step to the side as Fint says. If the other party steps into your space again, the fight has already started so make the most of it.

I still say this other kid needs to be beat up badly so he knows what he inflicted on another. How that got accomplished would not be a problem with me.

I had a couple incidents of poor edumacatorship in my youth:
1). In 3rd grade I was doodling aimlessly in the back of class. The Korean teacher walked over, tore my picture up, slapped me hard across the face. Not as hard as mom's ear cuffs though which left my hearing ringing. I actually felt sorry for her timid daughter (also in that class) at the time and said nothing.

2). In 7th grade I signed up for wrestling. The very first day we were crowded in the hallway waiting for the doors to open. I'd had a ~103deg fever that morning and puked twice but was determined to stick with it. I could barely walk to school. The first day is introductory anyways. Well I stood next to wrong person or something. Billy the 9th grade wrenstling star a foot taller than myself suddenly turned around and sucker-puched me real good in the gut. I'd never said a word or met the guy before. I ran off crying only from being sick as a dog but now worse.
When I returned for the next class I had made an oath to whoop that punk in the ring. Even though skinny I was like a badger against any mountain lion once the adrenaline kicked in.
We are all sitting on the mat second day. The coach directs me to stand up and basically calls me out as a little sissy in front of the whole class. More or less those were his exact words. Of all the ways to handle a situation... I left without saying a word. No point in contributing my efforts to that scene. Everyone saw it.

3). In 8th grade at a different school, the basketball coach had a thing against me. Every single time I got the ball he'd immediately whistle double-dribble or foul. Every time. One day his big pet monkey drove towards the basket and I didn't move. Double knees to the chest should be obvious, right? I bounced ten feet on my back, sprang up, and coach whistled foul. On me.
I called bs. He made a disiplinary arrainged parent-teachers confrence and I did not back down.
Dad did not say much but later said he thought the guy was a jerk. I was so proud of dad for almost backing me against 'the man'.


Billy I don't think you coddle your kid, but a second concussion in a year is nothing to mess around with. There could be long term damage. You never know. The other boy had previous complaints of violence and this was not an accident. You can always back off later on but this sort of thing shouldn't happen without consequences. School is meant to be fun and safe for all, not worldstarhiphop. Back your kid when he is down.

I can’t say too much about what is happening.

My boy was not cleared for competitive sports on Friday, hopefully Monday he gets cleared. We are taking him to the mountain today and hopefully a day of easy free skiing with mom and dad will do him good.

If he isn’t cleared on Monday, his ski race career is probably finished. If this is the case, the ‘plan’ will change. RCMP are already in the loop.

Other kid is getting what he needs.

I wouldn’t worry about your boy, Billy. I had a couple concussions and then wins Jay over money pencil. Twice!

I hope your son is okay and you find a positive outcome.

I appreciate your empathy but would also remind you if this kid is acting this way with your son, he is doing it with others. ..this wasn't just a "knock him down" sort of act but a full on body slam? Seems a bit more calculated to me. Don't let your empathy get in the way of protecting your son.

Remember he will likely have some anger for the opportunity he lost and worry about going back on the court/playground. Watch his grades.

My stepdads way of dealing with this was "you better fight him and hurt him or it will happen again. Yeah you'll get your butt kicked but he'll likely find an easier target next time"