Worried about kids at school?

[Equinox1]

I'm fifteen years old and I'm worried that some kids at my school are being abused. I don't know if I'm overreacting or not though and I don't know what to do if they are, in fact, being abused. There's three maybe four kids. I think that the first two are step or half siblings, they're both in my grade, the boy's fifteen and the girl's seventeen. I've been told that the girl is autistic and she does have a lot of the symptoms so I believe it, the boy also exhibits a lot, if not all symptoms (high-functioning). The girl has said that the parents are very religious and strict. She doesn't talk a lot but the most I ever heard her talk was when she said that her parents would 'give her a beating' if she dressed a certain way. I don't know if I'm overreacting but it certainly was a disturbing thing to hear her say. The next boy isn't related to them and he's fifteen too but he's said that his father hits him with all kinds of objects like shoes, cords and belt buckles. He was just talking about it like it was completely normal. He looked like he'd been crying when he came to school today. He's the one that I'm most concerned about because that certainly didn't sound very normal. The next one is my best friend, it's emotional not physical though. She said that her mom doesn't like her and wishes she'd been a boy. She said that she doesn't understand why everyone likes her mom because she's actually mean and that she was bleeding, she needed stitches for her hand and all her mom was concerned about was my friend cleaning her blood off the carpet and those are just some of the stories. Are these cases of abuse? I feel like everyone's parents are insane...if it is abuse then who am I supposed to tell?*I'm going to post this on a few different forums and see what people say :(

[Cadanance00]

That's sad.

If you see physical signs of abuse, or if they tell you of it, feel free to alert school counselors.

[Just JT]

Although it's seemingly easy to come to a conclusion that this is abuse, there doesn't seem to be absolute evidence of it
All you can really do is be their friend, maybe they will open up and share stuff with you
They are not guna want to talk about it much if you bring it up so....

If your really nervous about their safety, tell a teacher, school counselor, or school nurse
They will know how to help and find out, and they will keep it confidential to

[MadManic]

The emotional/verbal abuse is most definitely real and concerning, the case with the boy is also very concerning to me. I'm not quite sure about the two half brother/sister, but don't rule them out. Keep listening to them. I think the most you can do is voice your concerns with an adult at your school. They HAVE to look into that by law. Or if you have a police officer at your school. There has to be probable cause to obtain a warrant but he could definitely look into the situation. Don't back down either. If someone tells you that you're just jumping to conclusions, make sure they know that you mean what you are saying and if something really is happening then it needs to be dealt with. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all.