Of course this is ridiculous. It is also a growing trend. The registry and the related obsession with anything sexual was originated in a (misguided) attempt to keep children safe. Now it is being used to criminalize normal and age-appropriate behaviors in children. Within the past few months: 1.Police were called to a school to investigate possible sexual assault when a teacher saw a 12 y.o. girl kiss a boy of the same age. 2.Officials were called to a nursery school to investigate sexual fondling when two 3 y.o.'s were seen touching each other in the bathroom. 3.A five y.o. was investigated and suspended after hugging a teacher's aide and rubbing his head into her chest area; she said it made her feel "uncomfortable." 4.Several years ago a 13 y.o. girl became pregnant by her 12 y.o. boyfriend; both children were criminally charged with sexual assault of a child under the age of 14, and each was named as the victim in the other's case. As far as I know, the youngest child to ever actually be a registered sex offender was 8; we may see that record broken soon.

Anyone associated with even the thought of this situation being considered sexual harassment, should be removed from their position due to stupidity which we all know cannot be fixed.Paying for stupidity is a waste of taxpayer's money. These people should never be in a decision making position.

The biggest abusers here are those first class idiots on the school staff who accused a 7 year old child of sexual harassment. By doing this, they have further traumatized what appears to be an already traumatized child. Also, is this about feelings about race? I can't help but wonder. Was the alleged choker a child of color? Were the adults afraid to speak about racial tension in this incident? I have no idea - maybe they were both white, the kids, but if not, well, this maybe adds to the underlying story. Also, I don't understand why Ms. Lynch sent her 10 year old son to the office to explain anything or deliver a message. This is completely and utterly inappropriate. This entire incident is a matter for adults to discuss first and foremost, with no child present, so that things can get sorted out by the adults. For heaven's sake.

This is a real shame. I guess the people behind this idea don't have anything else to do but pick on a 7 year old kid. This is sick.

Pathetic school system that makes a serious judgement call without DISCUSSION WITH THE FAMILIES AND THEIR CHILDREN.

Some have been charged with Sexual assault for this same type of violence. Kids should not be taught that hitting below the belt is acceptable. It is a cruel act. But it is not sexual in nature either.

This article is not news.Not only does it invade a family's privacy but it also names an under-aged child accused of sexual harrassment. Even though the mother gave permission to publish the photo, Globe editors should know better than identifying subjects involved in a situation that already has got out of hand. Publicizing this sorry situation shows we have become a nation of cheap voyeurs. Unfortunately The Boston Globe is complicit in engaging in what used to be called "yellow journalism."

The school's acting like he's the first 7-year-old to kick a classmate in the nads. The only reason they haven't sought to have him registered as a sexual offender is they haven't thought of it yet. Are they going to try to get him criminally charged as an adult?

I think a lot of commentators here (but certainly not all) are missing the point. Whether or not it was self-defense IS NOT THE MAIN ISSUE. The boy and his mother claim that it is, and they might be telling the truth. Then again, it's possible that he's lying and he really was the instigator. But the issue here is that EVEN IF HE WAS THE INSTIGATOR, it's completely insane to call this "sexual harassment." A 7-year-old IS NOT CAPABLE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT. He's not sexually aware and had no intent to commit a sexual act. This was just a fight, there was never anything sexual about it. I said this in a reply to another commentator but I'll say the same thing again in a full comment: what's going on here is that the administrators are too cowardly to use their own discretion and determine for themselves when an example of "inappropriate touching" does and does not constitute sexual harassment. They're so afraid of being accused of not fighting sexual harassment that they ALWAYS define it as sexual harassment even when it clearly isn't. There's an old saying: "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools." Obviously they have rules about what constitutes sexual harassment and obviously this fits the definition. But instead of using the rule for GUIDANCE and determining for themselves if sexual harassment is what happened, they're following it to the letter even when its application is clearly unjust. THAT'S THE ISSUE HERE, lazy and cowardly administrators hiding behind regulations that treat everybody the same even when they're not the same.

Ridiculous.

Ok lets get real here folks, there is no way that this kid should be accused of sexual harassment, if anything it was self-defense. Anyone who has taken a self defense class knows that if you are in a real fight the best thing to end it quickly is hit the opponent where they are most vulnerable. The obvious choice is to him them in the.. .

It's insane, it's wrong, and frankly I'm getting tired of these school administrators COWARDLY refusing to answer for it by hiding behind the excuse of "confidentiality," as if they're doing that little boy a favor by refusing to explain how a 7-year-old can commit sexual harassment.

EVERY public official associated with these "charges" should be FIRED! I am so sick of stupid people in positions of authority in this state! FIRE EVERY ONE OF THEM!

I've got news for you - the real villians are the parents that bring lawsuits about just these types of silly things. You think schools overeact but they have had to react to parent's overeactions/lawsuits for years! And I agree with most of the posters...we've gone insane as a society!

This is ridiculous to label a scuffle between two very young boys as sexual harassment.The Boston school officials should be suspended then trained on what is sexual harassment.

I grew up in Southie. I had to fight my way in and out of school. According to these standards, the entire town would have been in jail. These school officials truly have to be considered mentally defective to treat this young mother this way. My condolences for your trouble at the hands of these "officials" who couldn't find their butts with the lights out, Mrs. Lynch.

Truly a world gone mad and a sad state of affairs when a fight between 7 year olds escalates to involving state agencies.

Several Boston Bruins are sexual harassers then. Write them up, too.

Sign of the apocalypse. How absurd. "Intent" should certainly be considered as well as age regarding "sexual harassment" cases and issues. We're out of control on "political correctness" issues.

It is high time we throw out these jerks who would accuse someone 7 years old of sexual harassment EVEN after they know the accused was involved in a fight. Let's do the right thing and forget this line of idiotic thinking.

What does a 7 year old know about sexual harassment, NOTHING. This country is gone nuts..........

What a shame that the school didn't do their job to protect this boy and turned up these charges to cover themselves. By the school's definition,if a women is assaulted by a man with the intent to commit rape and she fends him off by kicking or kneeing his groin, she would be charge for a sexual assault. Another example of common sense is dead.

The real offenders here are the school officials who lack any semblance do common sense. There is no sexual intent here, just two boys having a fight. This is a sad commentary on the judgement of the schools administration.

This has got to be a joke. Good grief, tell the kid he shouldn't do that and send him to bed early. What are we doing to our children? Expecting them to act like adults, with all our adult hangups?