First person singular:
Fighting punishment unfair to victims

By Joey Harmon
South Charleston High School

Currently in Kanawha County, the punishment for fighting in school is suspension for both students involved. This means that if someone comes up to you and hits you and you hit them back, you get suspended even though you were not the one who started the fight.

Is this fair? I asked both teachers and students for their thoughts.

Charles Hamer is a former Marine who now teaches history at South Charleston High School. I figured since he was a marine, Hamer would be a good person to ask because he has probably seen his fair share of fights, whether in combat or training.

“It’s unfair. It seems as a part of our society that the person who throws the second punch or retaliates gets punished,” he said.

Freshman Joey Mayes agreed. “If someone walks up to you and starts running their mouth, saying things about you and then hits you and you hit back, it should be considered self-defense. If you don’t defend yourself, you could end up seriously injured.”

Mayes raises a good point. What if someone hits you and keeps hitting you? Do you do nothing and wait until someone notices? By that time, you’d probably be beaten half to death.

Hamer told me that the reason both people are suspended in school fights is because the teachers or administrators who break up the fights don’t know who start them. That may be true, but why can’t they take the time to find out?

It’s not right to be punished for protecting yourself. That’s why I think this rule needs to be changed.