Charter school punishes concussion victim for shoving bully who was punching his head

A 12-year-old North Carolina boy was suspended, possibly as a result of his school's "zero-tolerance" policy gone haywire, Fox46 reports.

Jaden Malone has been barred from playing baseball thanks to an attack by a school bully that left him with a concussion. He says Invest Collegiate Charter School suspended him for defending himself after being punched in the head by another student.

"Then he pushes me on the ground so I get up and try to tell the teacher, and he starts punching me, punching me," Malone told Fox46.

"He couldn't walk away, he couldn't get out of it because the boy had hit him so many times," his mom, Kandis Malone, told the station.

The mother is so upset with the school that she pulled Jaden out. An official with the charter school told Fox46 that "zero-tolerance" applies even to children who are acting in their own self defense.

"School policies are school policies, North Carolina policies are zero tolerance. I hate it for the child but it is what it is," the school's director told the station.

"It sounds real good on paper, but I think it should be per child, per situation, per basis," Kandis Malone said.

The boy who hit Jaden received a five-day suspension.

Watch the report, from Fox46, here: