Not a good swirly

One of the reporters at my work is writing a story about a bullying incident.
This high school freshman was tied up, dragged into a bathroom stall and left there for a short period of time. There are all sorts of rumors of some really bad stuff happening to the kid while he was bound by hoodies, but the family denies those accounts.
Needless to say, many conversations have popped up in the news room about this incident and bullying in general.
A photographer asked if the kid got swirlied. A reporter says, "A what?"
Apparently a swirly is when the bully and/or bullies puts the kid's head in the toilet and flushes it. The photographer went on to give hand motions to show how the technique is performed and added in that a handicapped bathroom is better because of space issues.
Bullying completely and totally pisses me off.
I was never physically assaulted or even threatened as a kid, but I got my fair share of teasing and it was terrible and humiliating. But I can't imagine the fear of having my eyes covered, mouth gagged and hands bound behind my back by bullies. How terrifying!
And some of the online commenters on the newspaper website have had the nerve to defend the two dorks who did it saying they were just having fun.
If these two guys find this activity fun, I'm afraid of what they do to have a blast.
I'm glad that some girls told teachers and the boys got suspended. I'm glad that they got arrested. They need a harsh dose of reality. And the online commenters supporting the out-of-line juveniles need to realize that this type of behavior can lead to more heinous crimes in the future.
So there!