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OpinionNovember 14, 2008

By Billy (Bo) Bragg I think there needs to be a policy change at Central High School in Cape Girardeau. On Sept. 30 my son, who is 14 years old, was in gym class. The students were in the locker room dressing out. At that time another student hit my son in the stomach and started choking him...

By Billy (Bo) Bragg

I think there needs to be a policy change at Central High School in Cape Girardeau. On Sept. 30 my son, who is 14 years old, was in gym class. The students were in the locker room dressing out. At that time another student hit my son in the stomach and started choking him.

When my son tried to defend himself, he was taken to the office with the other student. He was handcuffed and taken to juvenile detention where he was strip-searched, drug tested and fingerprinted, and a mug shot was taken. He was put in a cell for 24 hours.

The people at juvenile detention were extremely polite and courteous to me, my wife and my son, and I thank them for that.

When the school vice principal called me to tell me what happened, I told him it was a clear case of self-defense. He told me the only defense is to run. School policy is that if you hit another student, no matter what, you will be jailed.

We hired an attorney to clear our son of these phony charges. We turned in the original reports of what happened plus statements from four students who were there and witnessed the attack. The juvenile prosecutor dropped all charges against my son.

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I went to the school district's central office to get put on the school board agenda to discuss this policy that the only defense is to run and that a student is not permitted to defend himself in any way.

I did not ask or want to talk to the superintendent about this, but that's what happened. The superintendent took notes and said he would investigate what happened. Forty-eight hours later I was called back to his office. He told me after his investigation that he felt the school officials acted appropriately in having my son arrested. I asked him whom he questioned. He said the vice principal, the coach and the school resource officer. None of these people were there to witness anything. He didn't talk to any of the students who were there and did witness what happened. The superintendent told me later that the matter was closed.

If this policy is not changed, I fear that someday a student will get hurt because he or she tried to run rather than defend himself or herself. If you raise your hand to defend yourself, you will go to jail, according to school policy.

We have three children. Two have graduated from Central High School, and one is still in school there. We have taught our kids to never start a fight, but if a fight happens not to run, but to defend themselves.

So what is right? Stand there and get beat down? Defend yourself? Or run and be considered a coward by your classmates and have to put up with that until graduation? Or possibly be seriously injured?

Billy (Bo) Bragg is a Cape Girardeau resident.

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