Well said. I think we all shouldnt be too quick to assume that the problem starts with the person doing the bullying, nice and simple as that would be.

My bully had two much older brothers and I guess that's how he learned to communicate, so I communicated back. We became friends afterwards.

Looking back it's not the physical bullying that was the most damaging, but social. I went to a different middle school and without a support network it was difficult to say the least.