Problem Solving

Last week out on break duty, a 6th grade girl came running up to me all out of breath to tell on herself. She said, "Mrs. Click, I just...I just pushed down (insert boy name)."

I said, "Okay," waiting to hear the rest of it.

Gasping for breath, she said, "Well, he was chasing me with a handful of rocks and said he was going to put them down my shirt."

I looked at her and the witnesses she had brought with her and said, "Well, it looks like you already took care of the problem."

The girls all smiled and went on their way.

Perhaps I should have talked to her about the inappropriateness of pushing students down, but I could barely keep from laughing. I thought her solution to the problem was perfect. She didn't squeal and run, thus causing the boy to give chase. She simply shoved him down. He left her alone.

And he never came to me and complained about being pushed down.

I figured it was problem solving at its best.