Just thinking: I regret not knowing how to act or how to stand up for myself, when I was younger. Some idiots claim that "bullying makes you tough"; it doesn't. It makes you realize your place in the hierarchy. When you do stand up for yourself, they bully you harder. Because you are not following hierarchy and staying in the place society has relegated you to. If you kill a cockroach, then you are a hero. If you kill a butterfly, then you are a villian. Beauty is the standard for morality.
@sardonicsmile If you're dealing with school gangs, then your only option is to avoid them. But if it's just one tough guy and the others are regular kids, you usually just need to send him to the hospital once. I was both bullied and a bully and those experiences taught me a few things. I can say they also made me mentally tougher.
People only care about power/status, if you're on top, you're the good guy, if not then you're a loser with nothing to offer. Kids are no different.
@sardonicsmile Except by facing the bullies I actually became mentally tougher. I used to avoid fights at all costs and I lacked confidence. If it wasn't for being bullied, I wouldn't have had the need to overcome those fears. Now some of my fondest memories are of me punching those kids in the face.
As for why I was picked on, it was because I lacked social skills at the time and didn't make friends. So yeah, social status.
@Based_Accelerationist I do not think you gleaned the "lesson" of being bullied.
You were bullied because you were/are low status. Higher status people bully low status people to affirm their positions in the hierarchy.
You did not interpret bullying correctly and are cloaking it with "mental toughness".