Zero Tolerance, Real Boundaries: A Mother’s Stand After Her Son Fights Back

waiting for me to reprimand him, to tell him he should have found a teacher, that he should have been “good.”

I stood up. The plastic chair scraped loudly against the linoleum.

“So,” I said, my voice steady, “my son attempted to de-escalate. He verbalized his non-consent. He tried to retreat. And when he was physically restrained and threatened, he continue reading …