Having been a parent in multiple cultures / countries and talked a lot about parenting with family members in others, Americans seem to talk more than others about bullying yet tolerate it much more than most others.
And truly, I learned this lesson early on only because of bullying (towards me): The school administration did nothing. The teachers did nothing. I was left to fend for myself... and this is what I learned: If you screw up the courage to stand up to a bully ("display your readiness to use force"), they will often back down. In some cases they will ONLY back down if you resort to physicality (the proverbial "fist to the face"). I learned this lesson again and again- I've had my wrist broken by a bully, but at least he never messed with me again. And as an adult, I've applied this, not in the direct use of force but in the fact that your will is what counts- when fighting traffic tickets, it's you vs. the system.
It shouldn't be surprising that 100% of the bullies I knew (who because I'm a peaceable sort, I actually friended on FB years later) became Republicans. But some of them also became leaders in various things.
My main bully, however, was apparently a troubled sort himself, and ended up taking a shotgun to his own head in front of his family. Spent a week in the ICU before giving up the ghost. Before this happened, I randomly ran into him at a bar. I didn't recognize him at first because he had gained a lot of weight, but one look in the eyes (the eyes always contain the identity of the individual when nothing else does, for some reason) and he immediately said "Let me buy you a beer". I accepted.
What ultimately helped was (a) growing a person, and recognising that the people I was choosing to hang out with were often either bullies, or enabling the bullies; and (b) relocating to a new school where I could redefine myself in a way that I was more comfortable with.
I remember 1 fight in grade school, a guy shorter than me picked a fight with me, next thing I know there's a circle of people around us jeering, and me being the nonviolent type managed to snatch him into a headlock and give him a "noogie" (rubbing knuckles on the person's scalp which hurts like a bitch but does no harm) and he said "mercy" pretty quick and I helped him off the floor- I was pretty proud of that resolution... but it WAS ultimately the application of a form of (counter)force.