A friend's ex-boyfriend punched her windshield...he said it was HER fault because she "made him mad" and refused to pay for it. The judge laughed and told the guy that he had control over where he put his fist....seems the same here. Just because someone says or does something you don't like doesn't mean that THEY are responsible for how YOU react.
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I agree with you to a certain extent. Everyone has their "boiling point" or point of reaction and there are plenty of folks who seem to enjoy provoking others to that point of reaction. And when you have two people (or more)stuck in reaction, you have an arguement with no resolution.
I'm not a christian, but I do like the story of Jesus. After much adversity and soul searching, he arrived at a place of no reaction, just about the time the powers that be decided he was too big a threat to the status quo and must go.
If a teen strikes out at staff when they have been harrassed and harangued for hours and months and years on end- to the point of mental break down, I'd have to say that the perpetrator caused a reaction and could or should be seen as at least equally responsible.
When a staff member squashes the life breath out of a teen because the teen had a reaction to the blatant disrespect being dished out, I do see the staff as responsible. There are other options for diffusing any situation, and the teen having a reaction should not be a death sentence.
