A 10-year-old Michigan boy has been charged with aggravated assault after he threw a ball at a classmate's head -- while playing a game of dodgeball.
Bryce Lindley was playing with friends when he allegedly threw a ball that struck another boy in the face. The boy's mother said her son suffered a black eye, a bruised nose and a concussion. His mother says the boy has a medical condition that makes head injuries even more serious. She also claims that the other kids knew he has to protect his head at all times and believes Lindley deliberately threw the ball at him.
Lindley claims he was simply playing the game and didn't try to hurt the boy. His mother believes the assault charge filed in juvenile court goes too far. Lindley is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Thursday.
I obviously wasn't there, but I have a hard time believing that a headshot against another kid--especially a kid with known medical issues--was intentional. Any time I played dodgeball as a kid, I just flung the ball and hoped to tag ANY kid out. I also got pegged in the head/face quite often (I wasn't exactly what you'd consider 'athletic') and never felt it was intentional. And secondly, if this child had a medical condition that required him to wear head protection at all times, A) where was his head protection? and B) why was he even playing dodgeball? I feel bad for the kid who got hit, but charging a 10-year-old with aggravated assault over a game of dodgeball is ridiculous. I hope this is dismissed.
[WXYZ]
UPDATE: It was later brought to my attention that one of the kids is white and the other is black, and some are alleging racism as a motivation for the ball being thrown, which--if true--would be considered a hate crime. I just cannot believe that a couple of ten-year-olds put that much thought into their actions. I truly believe they were just playing a game, and this is all being blown out of proportion. And again, why was the victim even playing dodgeball if he had a medical condition? UGGH!!