scratching 6 year old

[lemonstartree]

some very close friends of ours have a 6 year old son. Hes a nice kid but always been a bit of a handful. at the weekend he got into a 'fight' with my 7 year old son and scratched him really deeply across the chest . he also punched another friends 8 year old daughter in the face.

I'm having some problmes with this. Me and dh are very close to the parents but they don't seem to realise that most 6 year olds have outgrown the scratching/ very violent phase- ie they have some control. I feel they dont really discipline him when he bahaves in this ultra agresive way. Or do other kids behave like this and am I being unresaonable to be upset about this ?

I don' think you are being unreasonable. I get really upset if someone is violent towards my ds. Like you say at that age they know that it is wrong to hit, but I get even more annoyed if the parents don't do anything to make the child realise they are wrong. IMO at the very least he should have been made to apologise to the children he hit. It is difficult when you are friends with the parents but I would reduce contact that included the kids for a while and if they ask why tell them. I would imagine that if he behaves like that he won't get too many invitations for playdates etc. so perhaps the penny will drop with them.

I have a 7yr old DS and if he did this (even when he was a 6 years old ) I would go ballistic .Shame your one didnt punch him back .