TIFU by telling my kid to punch a Nazi.

Last week my 9 year old randomly asked me what a Nazi is. It caught me off guard but I guess he heard the term at school and was too shy to ask the kids about it. His internet and screen time in general is very limited so it’s not something he can research on his own.

We had a long conversation about the holocaust and I even showed him some age appropriate pictures of concentration camps (no death or gore, pictures of people skinny and sick that got the point across) he also saw some pictures of a Nazi salute and asked me about that. What he didn’t tell me is that some kid at school has been doing it. So I explained the best I could and made it clear that it is never ok to do, even as a joke. He asked me “what if someone does it to me?” and I half jokingly told him you punch them in the face because they’re evil. He’s never been violent or even in any fights that know of so I didn’t think anything of it.

Fast forward to today, I get a call from school. My kid punched someone twice and sprained his wrist doing it. I go to pick him up and find out what happened and I guess another kid was walking around during recess doing the salute and did it right in front of my kid’s face. My kid punched him in the nose and then the mouth and was yelling and calling him an evil motherfucker. The kid got a bloody nose and two broken teeth. His parents were obviously pissed but then he admitted doing the salute as a joke and they had no idea he even knew what it was. It got a bit messy but it sounds like both are suspended for the rest of the week.

I’m not sure how to react. My wife is pissed I told him to punch someone. I’m not pissed at all, actually kinda proud. I want my kid to know I’m proud without making him think it’s ok to keep punching people. Overall it’s a mess today lol.

TL;DR: 9 year old asked me what the Nazi salute is and I explained the best I could. I half jokingly told him to punch if someone does it to him. Some kid saluted him today and he gave him a bloody nose and two broken teeth.