What should I have done here?

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

In the playground after school today DS2(7) threw a ping pong bat at a classmate. It hit him in the face and obviously he was crying. I took DS2 immediately to say sorry, but he was getting very upset too. The other child's dad was telling DS2 to apologise but he was just getting more and more upset. He then said he wanted a cuddle and I thought maybe if I hugged him he'd calm down enough to apologise. But the other child's dad just huffed 'well fine' and stormed off.

I'm not excusing DS2's behaviour for a second but was I wrong to try and calm him down? I don't know whether to message the other child's mum and apologise, or to let the school know what happened (DS2 is already on the SEN register and awaiting assessment by the CDC).

Hi Op there's not a lot you can do other than perhaps apologise to the other mum and perhaps drop a txt to ask how their DC is.

Your DS has sen so it's difficult I'm guessing for him to truly understand what he's done you did what any other parent would have done you tried to get him to say sorry for his actions he got upset you comforted him that's all you can do and just try and explain to him when he's calm that what he did wasn't nice and he's not to throw an object at someone or hit anyone

I think you should drop a text to the other child’s mum/dad and ask how he is. Personally I would also explain why you acted as you did and also that you have explained the seriousness to your son.
They might well get pissed at you though - your son hurt theirs and your actions could be construed as minimising that.

I think you correctly judged your son was getting too emotional to respond appropriately and took him out of the situation to calm down.
I'd speak to your son and explain what happened and suggest he needs to apologise to the other boy next time he sees him.
Then contact the other parents, ask if kid is ok and say your son would like to apologise on Monday as it had all got a bit emotional. Mention the Sen if it's relevant.

Yes - I meant to add, sounds like you did what was right for your son, no apology or consideration is going to go in when he’s upset so calming him down sounds like totally the right call to me!

Thank you everyone. I phoned the school in the end to let them know what had happened and messaged the mum to apologise and ask how her son was. She was lovely and said he was fine.

I sat down with DS and told him that luckily he hadn't hurt the other boy but that it was serious and he should apologise when he sees him next.

I have a tendency to overreact and take everything far too personally. So I wasn't sure if I'd misjudged things.