
My son was suspended from school for a day. When the teacher informed me about the reason by phone, she said that he "kicked a kid on the face". Naturally, I was both concerned and surprised. Concerned because I have not taught my son to be violent. I always tell him to be nice, and I have modeled for him a purely kind behavior. Surprised because my 6 year old son doesn't have a "high kick", or any kind of kick, in his less than remarkable list of fighting moves. So when I got to the school, I asked about the situation. "Well, he didn't really kick anyone", the teacher said, "but technically he did".
How can you "technically" kick someone while at the same time not kicking them? The teacher explained. My son was in gym class. The class went by without major incident. At the end of the class, the teacher asked the students to get in line to go back to the classroom. All kids got in line, except one kid. My son walked up to him and, as the teacher explained, "he gently tapped the kid on the back of the head with his shoe and said "the teacher said to go back in line", so I had to suspend him".