I'd just like to point out that this has been happening to him since he was in preschool, and the kid got his frikkin teeth punched out.
May I remind you that if an adult did half the things that happened to this kid to another adult, they would end up in jail. Strangling? That's like 2nd degree assault people.
This kid's at fault because he didn't stick up for himself? I don't know if you realize this, but for most kids, sticking up for yourself = worse beating.
The mom's at fault because she didn't take him to a psychiatrist? How do you know that? I don't recall reading a statement saying she had never sought help for him. Quite the opposite actually. This woman was pleading with them to put a stop to the outright harassment and abuse this kid was suffering.
If the "character" being built by kids getting the shit beat out of them is a general lack of compassion and a by proxy justification of bullying and phsyically beating peers, then there is seriously something extremely screwed up with society.
But then again, what do I know? I didn't lose my virginity when I was 12 and I've never cracked someone's head on the sidewalk. I guess I'm just not adjusted.