My 12-year-old son carried his wheelchair-bound friend on his back during a camping trip so he wouldn’t feel excluded—then the next day, the principal called me and said, “You need to come to school right away.”

I pulled him close immediately, holding him tight.

“No one is taking you anywhere,” I said, my voice unsteady. “Do you hear me? No one!”

“Serves him right for stressing us like that,” Dunn added, making things worse.

“That’s not fair! What is this? You’re scaring him!”

Then Carlson’s expression softened.