Depends on the situation, like

If it’s drunk parents who beat their kids and one of those kids is your friend. Npd is pretty common as well as generational trauma. And some eras where sexual abuse on young kids was considered ‘hazing’.

That’s not to say some kids can be little shits that make that stuff up in order to watch someone suffer.

But either way these are all presumptions before hearing the story and it would be unfair to pick a side or assassinate character before knowing.