Yikes! Boys Will Be Boys?

Friday night, Sean was invited to a party at his friend's house. I'm pretty sure he knew, as soon as I picked him up, that I would discover the damage done, so he confessed all right away. I'm not pleased with what he had to report - both for his end and for the repercussions. Apparently, he and the other friends his age, were provoking the younger brother and that brother's friends by repeatedly going into the younger brother's room uninvited (and obviously, unwanted). A fight broke out.

When Sean's friend's younger brother jumped on him, Sean fought back. He claims he didn't want to be beaten by a fourth grader. I expressed, repeatedly, that he should have held his hands up and clearly articulated that he didn't wish to hurt the boy. Alas, he did hurt the boy, punching and scrabbling with him. And, of course, I had to call the mother to apologize for my son's errant and violent behavior and to make sure her younger son was okay (he was and she even stated that Sean immediately apologized and insisted on shaking hands with her son to smooth things over).

Still, I have no tolerance for this! After I spoke with Sean vehemently on Friday night (John was already in bed when I picked Sean up), his dad sat down with him on Saturday morning to eke out the story again and to clarify that violence is never the answer to conflict and that, really, he brought this on himself by his choice to provoke the younger boys.

While admitting that I am sorely disappointed in the choices my own son made, I am equally horrified by the choice that the younger brother's friend made when he saw Sean fighting back. This boy decided to jump into the fight and beat my son over the arm, not with his fist, but with some sort of wooden pipe or stick. I guess you could say Sean got his comeuppance, and then some:

May this teach Sean to bend over backwards to avoid violence in the future! I don't know the mother of the inflicting boy, but I sure hope she has a tough conversation with her son, as well. Boys!