this is a what if

What is the name of your state? MD

My 5 year old son accidentally scratched a 11 year old little girl on the nose while playing on the bus this afternoon. No biggie, right?!? The little girl told me and my son again apologized and got really upset and felt terrible. She walked over to her mother and then a few seconds later, the mother was in a very trashy uproar. All of this going down at the bus stop with 20 elementary school children around. I informed the mother that the children had handled it and it was all over. She walked away and told her daughter to punch my son if he is ever around her and if it ever happens again. Myself and 4 other mothers heard this and then one of the mothers approached me to warn me that this little girl is the type to seek out a situation just so she can punch someone since her mother gave her the green light.

Now, here is my question, I have instructed my 5 year old to stay far away from her, but if she were to start something, and my son was hurt, could her mother be held responsible?

I know this sounds ridiculous, but I am really out of my element here. I have NEVER imagined that I would be faced with this.

Thank youWhat is the name of your state?

You should be more concerned with keeping your son from harms way. If this requires you speaking to the mother tonight, or tomorrow, when she has cooled down, or have your husband speak with her/her husband and try to settle this amicably, then that should be where you go from here.

This would really be much better for everyone involved as apposed to finding someone to hold responsible, once he gets injured. Or, he injures the other child.
This may not be easy, as some parents can be unreasonable no matter what you do. Telling a child to punch another child is a good example.

However, if the two of you can discuss the situation without any hostilities then maybe you can get the children together to apologize once again and make sure there is no bad blood between them. Although I think the children, being in school together all day, will get past this incident pretty fast anyway. So if the parents can do the same, you can put your mind at ease.
Wouldn't this be much better than stressing over a hypothetical situation?