POLSON — Last Wednesday, outbursts of violence flared up in the halls of Polson Middle School, as a “limited number of students had declared the day to be ‘slap a seventh grader’ day,” according to a letter sent to parents in the wake of numerous reports of bullying and assault.

The letter to parents stated that, “the evening before there had been some social networking discussing that it would be a goal to smack seventh-grade students as though it were a game.”

Teachers were informed of the situation, and addressed their classes on the grave consequences of violating the school’s harassment and assault policies. However, the reported cases happened “primarily before the first period began.”