Help Me Help My Brother - Please

[Breezy]

Background Info:

Mom and dad live in an apartment in a suburb very near Minneapolis. My mom is a caretaker and dad works for the property manager. They get their rent free for all that my mom does (she is basically the assistant to the assistant manager- my uncle is the property manager). The apartment complex is not in a good area (it used to be years ago) and I would like to compare it to North Mpls but it is not THAT bad but getting there (those that are from MN know what I mean).

My mom and dad share a room with my brother (8) and my sister has her own room until she leaves for college in the fall (18).

My brother is the "weird" one I guess you could say. He is VERY into school. Has a lot of interests that he researchs to no end (currently WW2). I don't think this is weird but I can see where the kids he interacts with would.

Anyway......

He is getting beat up. He tries to play it off like its ok and that he doesn't mind but its because he doesn't want anyone to get into trouble. Yesterday he came home from school with a huge red mark all over his face. Some kid on the bus punched him in the face for getting too close. My brother begged my mom to not call the principal and she hasn't yet.

When I was in MN she got a call from the principal saying that he was involved in an altercation on the bus. I guess someone targeted him again and punched him in the nose. The kids parents had to come in to the school- the child lives in the same complex as my brother.

He has been pushed up against walls and choked at the complex, he has been choked on the playground more than once just in the past school year.

I took him out to dinner on Valentines Day when I was in town and I asked if he likes school and he said no he wishes he could stay home with my mom all the time. He is scared of the "cool" kids at school that walk around with their body guards. This is ELEMENTARY school!

He is very good in school and gets straight As. He is reading at a very high level. Loves math.

My mom has thought about open enrolling him to Maple Grove elementary school or Osseo area schools. My sister went to Osseo and I went to Maple Grove.

WWYD? Is this just typical kids being kids or is this something serious?