I gotta say, it is an enriching experience to beat the crap out of this kid. It just feels right.

Don't worry about it. Billy Wolfe's net worth at age 30 will be in the billions of dollars while his bully peers will be pouring lattes at Starbucks.

Hopefully Billy will take advantage of this publicity to sign a few book and tv deals, profiting from his 15 minutes better than Ms. Dupre did.

"The video shows Billy staggering, then dropping his book bag to fight back, lanky arms flailing. But the screams of his sister stop things cold."

Barry missed the real story, that is ... The Little Sista Who Could. Apparently her screams stop violence unfolding while it's happening!

i thought this was a good piece.

Billy's parents should take him to the local PAL for some boxing. It does a world of good in terms of teaching you not to be afraid of getting punched in the face.

He should also be taught that when you're getting jumped by multiple attackers all that you can do to protect yourself is grab one of your attackers and pull them to the ground with you. It makes you feel marginally better after the fact when you remember that they accidentally kicked the shit out of their "friend" too.

Wait, what is your issue with this article? That it's not yet another one about the financial crisis or the Eliot Mess?

Dan Barry is one of the best writers the NYT has. I used to look forward to his "This Land" column every Sunday, and now they've demoted his great work to Monday. Don't you guys go bullying him out of the paper altogether.

I challenge you to find a writer working in MSM anywhere who can beat the glorious, evocative prose of Barry's Farewell to the Fulton Fish Market.

Billy's parents should hire a great lawyer and sue the school system and the parents who raised those cretins. That might bring the attention of authorities to the problem.

Is it wrong that I think he's simply adorable, bruises & all?

jesus, this part made me wince:

The many incidents seem to blur together into one protracted assault. When Billy attaches a bully's name to one beating, his mother corrects him. "That was Benny, sweetie," she says. "That was in the eighth grade."

even if the kid is a smart-ass, what the hell do you do to deserve getting your cheek sown back together in middle school?

I wondered why they didn't just pull him out of the school. Knowing my kid got beat up day after day after day, I'd have reservations about continuing to send him.

@riskybusiness: Good suggestions, all. Though Brazilian Juijitsu teaches self-discipline as well as the ability to kick ass. I doubt there's much call for dojos in Arkansas, though.

This is a good article, and sadly, should be read by NYT readers. Better to read and deal with 100 of these 'before' stories than to read the more popular kid shoots up his school 'after' stories.

@BettyCrocker: Where's Mr. Miyagi when you need him?

Ultimately the kids picking on him are suckers. It seems like very few of them have actually ever stepped to him to shoot a fair one, preferring instead to blindside him. Most people are capable of knocking out somebody who is completely not expecting it.

It's no secret that young men revert to a mob mentality really quickly. There doesn't have to be a reason not to like Billy other than one kid & his boys deciding that they don't like him. He immedeately becomes persona non-grata because nobody wants to side with the outsider. The beatings proliferate because the moment one assailant gets away with it, everybody else jumps in on the bandwagon. From that moment on you get instant access to the in crowd if you kick Billy's ass.

I'm not really big on promoting violence, but Iunderstand the role that it plays in many of our lives. And, as sad a it may be, fighting is a right of passage for teenage boys. However, imho, his parents may want to change their tack. If a kid sucker punches him at school, mom or dad might want to try taking him over to that kids house and telling their parents "our boys are going to fight a fair fight. right here, and right now." Then you let them fight on the front lawn until they're exhausted or until one kid yields. Even if he winds up losing the fight, bullies like an easy mark and will usually avoid a kid who knows how to go toe to toe.

@sing_michael_sing: So did I.

rebecca, if you're going to link to Times articles, please link to the single page version.
Thank you.

@Calitri: Right? Or Drillbit Butterscotch Stallion Taylor?

@BettyCrocker: I don't think any Sensei would think that he is "looking for trouble" if he tries to protect himself. But you're right, self control is necessary, and hopefully he has enough of it not to snap & wind up killing one of these kids.

This unfortunate situation could easily be resolved by Billy's parents if they would take 10 minutes out of their day to fill out some simple paperwork at the local courthouse legally changing his name to "Bully" Wolfe.

Later, back at school, Bully (was: Billy) would show the legal paperwork to the bullies. "Looks like I'm the Bully now," he would say with a triumphant laugh. Being confronted by a real Bully, the mean kids would then be forced into an unfamiliar existential crisis. See? Problem solved.

This article is going to get Billy another beating.

Aside from the odd "heh heh," which seems to have no place whatsoever in the article, I thought it was really well written. I like a little variety in my content.

Sometimes an ancedotal article makes a point hit home much more clearly than an article that lists points 1, 2, and 3, generally. This is a very good piece.

Yeah, fuck your insistence on applying snark to this, really. It's a very well-written piece, not drawing too much attention to itself; short, condensed, to the point. Most articles on this topic would have included a plethora of boring quotes from "experts" and statistics that kind of muddy the waters of what's a pretty simple point that's trying to be made.

I feel bad for the kid. Every school has one or two of them, too, and it's gotta be a terrible feeling to be them. No kid his age likes to be pitied or have his parents fight his battles for him, but it looks like he has no choice.

@chicklit: Beat me to it! You said what I was trying to say with a lot less pork. Thumbs up.

I have half a mind to break into MT to correct these typos, Miss Rebecca. Maybe I'll just make you buy me a drink for each one that can't be blamed on cut-and-paste or blood alcohol level. And yes, I am now that commenter who, as leisurely and snootily as possible, corrects prose written under pressure that would be enough to have any normal person writing in tongues, let alone in lieu of syntax or article choice.

Times like this call for the Resurrection of Billy Jack.

As one who ingested more than his share of knuckle sandwiches in school, I feel bad for the kid. Let's hope Billy doesn't get a gun and try to square things on his own

@Maggie: Quit using them big words.

@Maggie:

+ Watch video

Is it really so difficult? Let's break it down one more time for those keeping score at home:

People Who Have It Coming To Them:
The Tinz. Julia Allison. Any of the CollegeHumor guys. John Fitzgerald Page.

People Who Do Not Having it Coming To Them:
Billy

That is all.

When this kid show up in school in a couple years with some assault rifles and plastique, Barry's going to win hisself a Pulitzer.

@mitchel_stevens: Wait just a goddammed minute, how did you get this video of the Gawker office?

Disturbing. How is this even legal? I mean, going to jail or getting fired is the only thing that prevents me from kicking the shit out of alot of people.

@Maggie:
i'm 1337-certified. and it was on someone's tumblr or flickr or something with an r.

I feel terrible for the kid, but let's be honest--when the kids who beat him up find out about this article and distribute the link to everyone at the school, is it going to ameliorate or aggravate Billy's bully problem? (wow this article allows for some sweet internal rhyming) The situation sucks donkey balls and I understand where the parents are coming from, but I suspect that if it were up to him, he would probably rather not be attending a school in which he receives regular beatings. Also, as the end of the post points out, it seems like the situation might be a little more complex than the article, which relies HEAVILY on the parents' naturally biased viewpoint, represents. This is even hinted at in the article:
"Some teachers think he's a sweet kid; others think he is easily distracted, occasionally disruptive, even disrespectful. He has received a few suspensions for misbehavior, though none for bullying." All in all, the article feels kind of sub-par and definitely "slow news day"ish to me.

My favorite parts of the article were the three or four times that they mentioned that Billy was not in fact a homosexual.

Not exactly sure why you're so upset it's in the Times. It doesn't have wide breadth, but you have to allow them their case studies from time to time.

Besides, the well-written and interesting article worked- It got me nice and pissed off. My only concern is that it might get the kid beat up even more.

@semiserious: I totally agree. That the kid's gayness or lack thereof was even an issue kind of destroyed the integrity of the piece for me.

words from the mouths of babes (aka my brother, a student in the fayetteville arkansas school system) , as transcribed thru e-mail by my mother :

[my brother] told me this kid gets in other kids faces and insults them until they snap and hit him. He saw this kid trash another kid's dead mother this way and he felt he deserved to get punched in the nose. [my brother's friend] agrees with [my brother] that this kid repeatedly does things to provoke attack. I questioned them pretty hard about this, but both boys stood firm that while they are usually pro-the-underdog, this particular kid does things to goad others on.

...so there's that

That article is way too long and will get that boy beat up even worse. boo