Walter Olson over at Overlawyered points out that when it comes to school bullies, sometimes the victim isn't so innocent:

Could there be another side of the story, you may wonder? Well, as a matter of fact, there is. To find it you need to consult the local paper, the Northwest Arkansas Times (Scott F. Davis and Dustin Tracy, "Who's the bully?: Police, school records raise questions about claims made by Fayetteville High student", Apr. 3)(via Childs). One may argue about whether Wolfe's own alleged exploits in victimizing other kids, as catalogued in the NWAT article, will or should affect the disposition of his family's legal claims. What seems beyond dispute is that the NYT's story would have been very different in the emotional reactions it evoked -- and much less effective in promoting the particular "cause" it was advancing -- had it included that other side of the story.

School bullying has received a lot of attention in the past few years since it was identified by many experts as "the cause" of school shootings. It has become an intellectual fad in some ways - and like most fads - encourages lazy thinking.