That's absolutely shocking. What good will come out of potentially ruining a kid's life over something as little as a dare?
Consent is key. You can't just go around kissing people without their consent. I think the treatment of the boy was a little harsh, especially given his young age.
If someone did that to my daughter or niece in a park or other public area (kiss her against her will, after she explicitly tells them not to) I would call the police. What happens after the police are called is entirely at the discretion of the police. So are we saying that schools should be "get away with sexual assault free" zones? Because that might be why rape is so common and so rarely prosecuted on school and college campuses. Boys are systematically taught that it is not serious to put your hands on a girl, sexually, against her will, so long as you are on a school campus. The police will scare the heck out of the kid and then let him off. And maybe a bunch of other kids will get a useful lesson. Unless the social media "boys will be boys" machine leaves them with the lesson that what he did was actually okay.
I saw a youtube video of some prankster who went around kissing everyone — both men and women. Most were disgusted by the act but he wasn't arrested and charged with assault. While I'm very much against assault in any form, the boy shouldn't have been arrested. He should have been forced to apologize and punished. His friends also deserved punishment so they too can learn a thing or two.
Yeah, they're at as much fault as the boy himself. He probably felt pressured into it. Yes it was wrong, but he really doesn't deserve such a huge punishment.