I have to agree that toxicity is rampant in this thread. But OP is probably a troll, anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'd be upset too but presumably you have health insurance so you're just on the hook for co-pays. It's not worth suing that kid or his family for co-pays. Forget the money. Get it fixed with the best medical attention and advise your son to stay away from this guy.

This is likely the route we will take. I appreciate the real advice. Not really thinking of suing but just upset. My son is 1000 miles away and I feel helpless.

Your son is, technically, an adult. If you've babied him this far, thats your fault. Time he learns how to look after himself.

By all means get in your helicopter and fly there and hover over him. how long do you plan to do this...? Til he's 25? 30?

He’s 18 with a very serious injury. That’s not helicoptering. Gimme a break.

Anonymous wrote:Former Res Life employee and have lawyers in the family. Just wanted to say that the PP who noted *proportionate reaction* is accurate. In other words, the kid who broke OP's son's jaw better lawyer up, because that kid clearly over reacted, and will more likely than not have to leave school for his outrageous temper and inability to control himself at an adult age (Preschool behavior, maybe. Adult? Absolutely not.). No college can afford to have a loose canon on campus. OP, definitely press charges and find out about the statute of limitations in that state. Good luck.

The idiocy defending the jaw breaker (literally) on some of the upthread posts is astounding.

could not agree more. I was so shocked to read so many comments defending the broken jaw. I truly hope OP does not come back to read this thread.

Former Res Life employee and have lawyers in the family. Just wanted to say that the PP who noted *proportionate reaction* is accurate. In other words, the kid who broke OP's son's jaw better lawyer up, because that kid clearly over reacted, and will more likely than not have to leave school for his outrageous temper and inability to control himself at an adult age (Preschool behavior, maybe. Adult? Absolutely not.). No college can afford to have a loose canon on campus. OP, definitely press charges and find out about the statute of limitations in that state. Good luck.

The idiocy defending the jaw breaker (literally) on some of the upthread posts is astounding.

if I were OP, I'd request to have this post taken down. there is so much toxicity on here, and I hope OP never has the chance or desire to read any of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'd be upset too but presumably you have health insurance so you're just on the hook for co-pays. It's not worth suing that kid or his family for co-pays. Forget the money. Get it fixed with the best medical attention and advise your son to stay away from this guy.

This is likely the route we will take. I appreciate the real advice. Not really thinking of suing but just upset. My son is 1000 miles away and I feel helpless.

Your son is, technically, an adult. If you've babied him this far, thats your fault. Time he learns how to look after himself.

By all means get in your helicopter and fly there and hover over him. how long do you plan to do this...? Til he's 25? 30?

Good point, I would've been to embarrassed to even tell my mom at that age...

Anonymous wrote:Has the OP even come back since that second post? Either she is on a plane going to her son or this is atroll.

I don't think so. Which is probably a good thing, because there are some serious cuckoos on this thread.

Has the OP even come back since that second post? Either she is on a plane going to her son or this is atroll.

The original question was "WWYD?" and in all honesty I wouldn't be inclined to do anything. I'd politely listen to whatever my 18-year old college kid told me and listen to his thoughts on how he wants to address the incident and I'd offer some feedback on his thoughts but I wouldn't DO anything. He's friggin 18 and away at school to learn, so I'd handle the medical bills (this time) and let him learn from this incident.

Son, you're not in Kansas anymore and it's unwise to be "screwing around" with people you don't know from Adam.

Anonymous wrote:What if OP’s son were actually a daughter? Everyone here still comfortable with the level of violence? She got what she deserves?

Yup. 'specially if she got lippy.
j/k.

We all know chicks are judged by a lighter standard. She'd already be at the police station. And maybe for good cause. If you're a dude and break a woman's jaw, she better have been attacking you with a deadly weapon and it would really help if you were bleeding, because thats a tough one to justify.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'd be upset too but presumably you have health insurance so you're just on the hook for co-pays. It's not worth suing that kid or his family for co-pays. Forget the money. Get it fixed with the best medical attention and advise your son to stay away from this guy.

This is likely the route we will take. I appreciate the real advice. Not really thinking of suing but just upset. My son is 1000 miles away and I feel helpless.

Your son is, technically, an adult. If you've babied him this far, thats your fault. Time he learns how to look after himself.

By all means get in your helicopter and fly there and hover over him. how long do you plan to do this...? Til he's 25? 30?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^You are obviously not a lawyer and don’t know what the hell you are talking about.

He assaulted someone. He was told to stop and then he assaulted them again. The response was self defense. No one can argue with that, whether his jaw got broken or not.

Nope, self defense doesn't work like that. The punch was not commensurate in force with the touch of the head.

Yes, it was. A punch was "reasonable force".

Not a previous poster on this issue, but let’s stop with the speculation and threadcrapping. We don’t know if the man who’s head was being touched was mobbed and repeatedly pestered or if he was free to stand and up and walk away to solve the issue. We know nothing about OP or her son either. Most of these posts are fueling a need for infotainment without addressing OP’s original question at all.

+1 It sounds like a weird troll who enjoys crapping on OP's kid without having a clue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^You are obviously not a lawyer and don’t know what the hell you are talking about.

He assaulted someone. He was told to stop and then he assaulted them again. The response was self defense. No one can argue with that, whether his jaw got broken or not.

Nope, self defense doesn't work like that. The punch was not commensurate in force with the touch of the head.

Yes, it was. A punch was "reasonable force".

Not a previous poster on this issue, but let’s stop with the speculation and threadcrapping. We don’t know if the man who’s head was being touched was mobbed and repeatedly pestered or if he was free to stand and up and walk away to solve the issue. We know nothing about OP or her son either. Most of these posts are fueling a need for infotainment without addressing OP’s original question at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^You are obviously not a lawyer and don’t know what the hell you are talking about.

He assaulted someone. He was told to stop and then he assaulted them again. The response was self defense. No one can argue with that, whether his jaw got broken or not.

Nope, self defense doesn't work like that. The punch was not commensurate in force with the touch of the head.

Yes, it was. A punch was "reasonable force".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m starting to wonder if this is a troll post. All these “unwanted touching” PPs have never seen the results of a broken jaw. It’s serious assault, serious recovery time and not excusable unless a documented accident. Punching someone in the face hard enough to break jaw is a crime and not justified

This is such a weird response to me. You realize that "touching" someone else's head can be a hedging way of referring to a range from a teeny boop on the tip of the nose to flicking him directly in the eye, or clapping him on the side of the head a'la the eardrum rupture in It's A Wonderful Life?

How the hell can you say you know whether it was proportional or not? Especially given it could have been a wild swing that just landed right.

You're pushing a narrative.

Touching someone’s anything when unwanted is assault - plain and simple.

Agreed. But the law looks at things like whether the response was proportional. There is case law on this.

From what OP wrote, it could certainly go either way. Anyone that makes a firm judgment call one way or the other is projecting something.

Proportional would refer to the means not the outcome. If he'd used a gun or a knife or a club on the guy, not proportional. Punching a guy who lays his hands on you, yes, proportional.

Have you heard of the term "proportional level of force?"

The level of force is not solely determined by the means.

If someone is touching you with their hands, then a punch (using your hands) is a precisely proportional level of force.

You are allowed to use enough force to stop the assault. Which the puncher did.