I agree with that. Bullying is perceived a lot differently than it was when I was in school. It's also handled a lot differently.
I think every school had a bully. Usually, the bully had a following of minions who were always available to do his bidding, look upon his criminal conduct with admiration, and help with the intimidation process. We had such a kid during my first year of high school.
I was always being approached for a "loan". My parents made sure I always had lunch money on me and I usually had a buck or two of my own. The first time I actually expected to get the money back. When the second or third time rolled around, I realized I was the victim of extortion. The requests for "loans" became more frequent and I also realized that it wasn't about the money - this kid was practicing his skills at strong arm robbery just to satisfy his need to cause fear.
One day I had had enough. Oh, I was scared to death but I told the kid that I didn't have anything for him. Worse yet, I embarrassed him in front of his disciples. Of course, he announced my fate which was an ass kicking after school. Being the nerdy, geeky student who had never been in a fight in his life, I had no idea what to do. I did know that he would follow through in order to save face. I didn't do well in school that day as I anticipated my fate. I considered telling the vice principal but I knew that there was little they would do.
I left school as usual, walking, carrying a couple of books. I ws vigilant, looking in every direction for the assassin, anticipating an ambush. Then it came. I felt someone push me from behind hard enough that I almost fell on my face on the sidewalk. As I regained my balance and turned around, I saw that there were a couple of dozen kids who had followed the bully ready to be entertained by the bloodsport.
The kid came after me with his arm drawn and a closed fist. I had never been hit before and had no idea what to expect. In more of a panic than a precision move, I sidestepped the bully and swung, almost threw, the two-inch thick Western Civilization book that I was holding. It caught him with force flat in the face, breaking his nose. He went flat down on the sidewalk. When he saw the amount of blood he was losing, because broken noses always bleed like hell, he started screaming and crying. I mean crying like a bitch.
That scared me more than the time he was stalking me. I expected him to regain his composure, get up, and exact revenge tenfold. He didn't. He laid their crying with his buddies tending to him. I turned around and proceeded to walk home. Oh, I wanted to run. I did walk fast once I got a half block away. I didn't dare turn around until I got ready to turn the corner. When I did look, he was still on the ground crying.
I told my parents what happened. I figured I was going to be arrested at home that night because I knew I had hurt his kid pretty bad. I didn't mean to. I reacted out of fear. Nevertheless, I figured I was going to end up in juvenile hall.
My mother drove me to school the next day because I still expected the bully to show up. Halfway through first period I got called into the vice principals office. There was a cop there with him along with my mother. I figured the end had come. Instead, the vice principal gets up, pats me on the back, and congratulates me. He explains that I broke the kids nose and that when he recovers from that, he will be expelled from school. It seems the kid was on probation for bullying before and had violated it. The cop took my statement and I made it out of there in time for second period.
It today's world, I would probably be expelled from school for defending myself. The "victim" would probably sue my family for his medical expenses.
One thing I learned that's as true today as it was then: Bullies will continue until someone stops them, one way or another.
