And I mean any form of violence.

There is a lot of dialogue about how we should raise boys to not demonstrate violence except to protect others and use strength only for good. So much of "this but not that" and "never except maybe that one time" thinking.

The fundamental flaw in this type of thinking with qualifiers is that you leave things open to biased interpretation.

Never means never and non-violence means non-violence. It wouldn't have the "non" in front of it if it meant otherwise.

Mahatma Gandhi said it best: "Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being."

Another one of his quotes: "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary. The evil it does is permanent." I think Gandhi is actually being generous towards violence in this quote. There is no good that can come from violence at all.

Violence when you think it is to protect is not any better than instigative violence and is never necessary.

How about instead of "raise boys to be kind, respectful, and use violence only to protect" we do "raise boys to be kind, respectful, and nonviolent" because as Gandhi said, "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."