I forgot the worst one...

In all of my diatribe about bullying, I left out the worst one.
When I taught 4th grade, I had a cute little guy whose mother and brother were killed in a car crash the year before. He got into some altercation with another kid on the playground during recess. The other kid said, "At least I have a mother!"
I reacted poorly. I wanted to strangle the kid...but how could I find a way to take back the words that his peer had said??
Sometimes, even when adults are around, things can't be controlled. Ugh!