A mom has taken to Facebook to say that she is proud of her six-year-old son for punching his school bully, but not all parents agree.
Laura Mazza, 33, explained on the social networking site that her son got into trouble at school for punching another child.
She explained that this was completely out of character for her son who she describes as "sweet by nature".
That's why she thought that he must have had a good reason for harming the other child, and it soon transpired that he was being bullied and didn't think that his teacher would do anything to stop it.
She wrote on Facebook: "My son punched another kid today. He told me he had to do yard duty.
"I kept probing him why and he didn't want to say, he told me I wouldn't believe him."
Laura added: "He said the teacher didn't believe him because the kid always pretends to be hurt. So I told him, if you tell me the truth, you won't get into trouble. And he did.
"He told me that another boy was picking on him, and when he told him to stop, he pushed him off the playground, then ran away."
It was at this point that Laura, from Melbourne, Australia, asked her son: "Okay, so what did you do?"
She detailed: "He said 'I chased him and punched him in the face so he knows never to bully me again. I knew the teacher wouldn't do anything so I had to stop him from bullying me'.
"I didn't say much, just thanked him for being honest and talked about different ways of handling it without violence.
"But was I proud? Yeah a little bit. I know violence isn't the answer but I know when it comes to bullies you gotta stand up to them."
Laura continued: "I'm glad he did. I'm sad I wasn't there to protect him and that he was let down by adults.
"But I'm glad he stood up for himself, because as an adult that's still one of the hardest things to do.
"I want my kids to know that the bad guy doesn't win."
Laura's post did not go unnoticed on the social media website, and at the time of writing, it has received over 3.8K reactions and over 800 comments.
However, not everyone agreed that Laura had done the right thing.
One Facebook user wrote: "Sorry but am I the only one that feels like you've just accepted that violence is the answer."
A second added: "You need to speak to the principal and get it all out there to really resolve this not only so your son knows you have his back but for other kids at that school.
"They need to address why he felt the teachers wouldn't [sic] do anything and the fact there was bullying leading up to the event so the other child can be dealt with too."
However, the majority of Facebook users were in agreement that Laura and her son did the right thing.
Another commenter wrote: "My kids have full permission to rock any kids s**t who won't listen to words and won't physically leave them alone. Consent matters, no means no."
A second added: "Take your kid for ice cream; he has earned it. If the adults around him failed him and he knew he could face consequences and still chose to stand up for himself.... you, my dear are raising a fearless leader."
What do you think? Did Laura and her son do the right thing?