i should probably tell my students this one day

so i had this kid last year who was always late to class and never turned in homework on time. everyone else was like oh, he's just lazy or disruptive but honestly sometimes i think it was because of stuff at home. his dad is really strict and i know from some other teachers that the kid gets yelled at a lot when he comes back after school. anyways one day i gave him an assignment and he had to stay late to finish it. he looked so exhausted and sad like crying kind of but wouldn't say anything. i ended up letting him skip it cause i figured maybe it was something big going on. now every year when i have new kids, this comes back into my mind - did i do the right thing or not? sometimes i think i should just be more strict with everyone instead of trying to guess what's best for each kid. it's tough being a teacher.