We have to be very careful with what children report because they may not understand the significance of what they’re saying. When I was a kid my mother watched too much TV and still does, so she believed child abuse in school was rampant. She questioned and questioned me about my teachers, how they were treating me, if they were screaming at me, etc. For a kid it's very interesting and fun to weave a tale and get reactions, so I did. The spotlight was on me so I went full Tolkien on it. Shoving, screaming, hitting, my teacher did it all to me and I watched the rage build up in my mother until she punched the wall in the kitchen. I still remember how the whole thing shook from that punch. The next day at school I was called into the principal's office and there was my mother sitting with the teacher and the principal. Mom came to report the abuse and I was standing there shitting a brick. The spotlight was again on me and I had to retell my tale of bullshit in front of my "abuser". I’m sure my cheeks could’ve started a fire that day. I think they realized I was lying but I wasn’t punished for this. A few years later I did the same thing. A friend and I lied to get an angry reaction out of an adult. There was a meek, quiet boy in class and we told the teacher that when she was gone to the bathroom, he went up and spat on her desk and did a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t remember. She talked to us in private and the kid was there, made to sit on the floor, looking scared and sad. I spoke my venom and watched again as the rage built up until the teacher actually kicked this poor quiet child. He did not defend himself. Maybe he didn’t even understand the concept of self-defense. This time the truth never came out. I think back on all this and I can hardly understand it. I’m sorry for what I did and if that boy recognized me in the street at present time, I would invite his punches because I deserve them. But in all honesty, while I had a rudimentary understanding of right and wrong (hence the brick I shat in the first story), that took a back seat to telling the tale and getting the reaction. There wasn’t even any feeling of cruelty there when I got that kid in trouble. It was just pure fascination and excitement which is the scary part because it’s, dare I say it, innocent.