Self-defense is what a government does when it is under attack, what the average adult is expected to do, and what every boy is told to do by his father.

The Kearsley Student Code of Conduct, however, seems to discourage self-defense.

The school seems to stress that there are two sides to each fight, but students tend to disagree on the matter.

Yes, there are two sides to a fight, but for students, it is a matter of who started the fight. Not every fight is black and white.

School policy differentiates between fighting and assaulting, and in the case of an assault, the victim is not punished.

In most cases of what would be an assault, however, the victim retaliates. Once the victim retaliates, both students are in a fight and are subject to equal punishment.

Shouldn’t the punishment for the attacker be greater than the punishment for the victim?

The rules in the Code of Conduct should at least be clearer on what assault and fighting are, and which is the greater crime.

In the Code of Conduct, the potential punishments are listed under “misconduct,” and an interesting point is contained there:

• Assault and/or Battery at KHS warrants a punishment ranging from steps two through nine.
• Fighting at KHS warrants a punishment ranging from steps three through nine.

A student guilty of assault may be punished in eight different ways, one of which is even lower than the minimum punishment for fighting.

The rules are both unjust and unclear. If a student is assaulted, should he or should he not retaliate?

To retaliate causes the student to face equal or similar punishment as his attacker but also may increase the punishment against his attacker.

Not retaliating would subject the student to intense physical punishment, and the assault, most likely, would not be stopped until a school official breaks it up.

Ultimately, it’s the student’s call. It takes a lot of self-restraint not to retaliate.

In the end, though, fights and assaults are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.