This is a tangent, I'm getting that out ahead of time because I'm not looking to derail.

Just no on so many levels. That victim-blaming "shake it off" attitude is part of what enables bullying like this to happen in the first place.

I'm sorry, but I honestly believe if I had taken your advice, I would be dead. If I now extended it to others, I would be culpable in their deaths. And I got punished for all sorts of things I didn't start.

I'll give you my context and you can tell me how you would have handled it as a child. The teachers will respond to any complaints by trying to tell you to be more understanding. Your parents will ignore you. Good luck getting police or authority to listen.

Incorrect. We don't know he threatened the school. That's hearsay. It could be a made up rumor to demonise him. I highly doubt it.

The threat of physical violence along with a history of physical violence is almost certainly at play here. These are not going to turn out to be casual passers by who called Eric a slur from across an open hall.

If it's not a current legal definition in his jurisidiction it should be. Whether it is or not is really immaterial to the broader point here: punishing him is a violation of the spirit of law, is ethically intolerable, morally repugnant, and discriminatory.

You completely missed Kat's point. You missed it completely. It's like, 50 miles south of you. That's how far off-base you are. Telling people, no matter their age, that verbal abuse is ok as long as you don't escalate into physical violence is why people who have been bullied and verbally abused are so ashamed to…

You and the two or three others who want to pin this on the victim are ignoring the context: the likely history of physically violent abuse and harassment. It's as if you didn't even read. You hit "threw first punch" and stopped thinking critically. The bullied do not get to this point without genuine, justified fear…

Because of course. Perhaps they're trying to find a way to explain how he broke his own hand punching his bullies... Jesus. This whole thing is a mess. I hope his mom fights this.

No information yet, because of course not. I doubt if I called the school district or the police they'd give me a comment. Maybe I'll try tomorrow.

So.... the kids who beat him are getting charged too, yeah?

Sorry, I misread that point. It still makes me rage stroke. Like GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH angry.

Ill get the matches.

We don't know Eric's orientation. That's the point. The mere perception of a non-heterosexual orientation was enough.

I don't understand how people who were never oppressed to begin with believe they should be the ones to decide when oppression is over and oppressed people should just "get over it." It's the rankest, blindest and most transparently self-serving form of privilege.

How can you gaze upon your child with pride after finding out that they beat the shit out of another kid because of his sexuality? The one thing I would never EVER tolerate is if my sons picked on someone just because someone thought it was funny. If you aren't teaching your children to stand up for those who can't…

Christ, you aren't kidding:

That's something I hear straight people say all the time. "It's cool, you won! Take a victory lap, gays." But no. There are still 81 countries where being homosexual is a crime. In 10 of those countries, it is punishable by death. In the US, there are SEVEN! (7) states in which sex education material is REQUIRED…

Interestingly enough, my high school was legitimately intolerant of threats, harassment, etc. At times they even went overboard just in case if there was enough evidence of a problem.