Victimized.

My son was at the receiving end of an act of anger in school Thursday. He came home and answered the "How was your day?" question with, "I had to talk to Deputy F. in the office."

Ok, he had my attention at that point. He said that another kid hurt him in the hallway and that he was ok, but the principal had him come to the office, tell her and the Deputy what happened. "But I'm not in trouble," he said, "so don't worry."

Well, kids will be kids I thought. There wasn't a note in his backpack so I figured all was well.

Then, the principal called my cell phone.

She explained that Cale was in no way in trouble, but that he was in fact, victimized at school.

Victimized? Holy Lord, what in the world happened?!

She explained that while waiting in line for recess, a child simply lost control and lashed out, and our son just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The kid grabbed Cale's arm, twisted it behind his back and pushed him against the wall. Our guy shouted "Help!" to the teacher and she came running over and pulled off the other boy. After making sure he was ok, she sent the "attacker" with the Deputy resource officer and our son with the principal.

She said that our son was very mature, honest, calm, respectful, saying "sir" and "ma'am" to them, and that he was the model of what a student should be in that situation.

And the other child was suspended for 5 days (repeat offender).

Here's what we came away from this with. Our son said "Sir?" Really?! lol

Honestly, we couldn't be prouder. This opened a door for a serious discussion about how to react if someone is attacking you, hurting you, or someone else. When it's ok to defend yourself, shout for help, or run away. How to act when being questioned by authority. And...our same old, same old adage about "making good choices."

I'm heartbroken that he was victimized. I'm proud of how he handled himself and the situation. At the end of the day, when he went to bed, I just stared at him and smiled. "What?" he said. "I love you," I said.

"I know."

Yep, right thing to say, again.