History Main / SchoolBullyingIsHarmless

* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' [[AvertedTrope takes this trope to task]] by going into brutal detail all of the ways that school bullying can inflict lasting harm on not just the victim, but the bullies themselves. Shoko is bullied mercilessly by her classmates [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer for her disability]] while the teachers [[BystanderSyndrome stand by and do nothing.]] When the bullying gets so severe that Shoko gets transferred to another school, everyone [[TheScapegoat shifts the blame]] to one of her bullies, Shoya, even though basically everyone in her class participated. Both Shoya and Shoko suffer lasting psychological trauma from their ordeals, and eventually [[spoiler: they both attempt suicide.]] All of this is a realistic depiction of the unfortunate truth of bullying, to the extent that a group actually tried to block the story from being published because it shined a light on Japan's very real bullying problem.

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/HitList''. The reason a lot of the attackers participate in Ganondorf's plan is because they were bullied, ignored, or marginalized and wanted revenge. This shows up pretty early on, when Link stops one of the shooters from killing Ruto and Darunia out of bitterness over Darnia's popularity and Ruto turning him down when he asked her out. [[spoiler:The end of the fic has Link, when giving a speech commemorating those who died in the attack, calling for special attention to be given to bully victims, so something like that could be prevented in the future.]]

* In ''Fanfic/{{Mudsnake}}'', the Headmaster has this viewpoint. When Snape confronts him about Ron mocking Hermoine behind her back, he lets Ron off easy because he's just a growing boy. He also tells Snape that he needs to get over the bullying that occured to him twenty years ago.

* ''Fanfic/PartingWords'': Deconstructed in the third chapter of the story, which takes place right after the end of the canon episode "One Bad Apple". Part of the reason why the bullying the Cutie Mark Crusaders (and to an extent, Babs) have suffered through has gotten as bad as it has is that the [[AdultsAreUseless adults didn't do anything to really help the kids]] because they didn't think the bullying could possibly be ''that'' bad; it was just harmless teasing and a part of growing up. This is continued in the sequel...

!!Examples

* Completely {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/SuteraretaYuushaNoEiyuutan'': the victim, Katsuragi Daichi, is not only blamed for the bullying he receives, by the bully ringleader, and the rest of his class, but is ignored by the teacher, with the teacher actively making the bullies' job easier by dragging him to class when he tries to hole up in his dorm room, for fear of his life. When the tables are turned after getting to the world of Randolia, and the bullies find themselves on the receiving end, they suddenly realize his trauma wasn't so "harmless" after all.

** This may in part be due to Japanese attitudes toward bullying and it becomes clear that Izuku does have some deep-rooted psychological issues, but they are less linked to Katsuki per say and more toward the failure of the people around him (including unfortunately his mother) to properly help and cope with [[UnSorcerer Quirklessness]]. As for Katsuki, it's revealed that part of his beef toward Izuku is out of a warped belief that Izuku looks down on him (or rather, that he lashes out at anyone he perceives as looking down at him; Izuku just got the worst because Izuku never stopped associating with him and being Quirkless rubs salt into it). However, later implication shows that Katsuki actually ''fears'' Izuku or rather his potential, that the so-called "Quirkless loser" is worthier of being a hero than him.
* {{Defied}} with a literal vengeance in ''Manga/GunotaGaMahouSekaiNiTenseiShitara''. The main character, Lute, when he was a Japanese high-school teen, was viciously bullied because he and his best friend were "otaku" fascinated with the military, and he viewed this as "normal". He was moved to another class, but his best friend wasn't. In a MomentOfWeakness, he turns away when he accidentally stumbles on his friend being brutalized by the bully ring-leader. The victim commits suicide, leaving Lute with SurvivorsGuilt. TheBully, having his life destroyed as a direct result of his own actions, blames Lute for it, hunts him down, and stabs him to death as he's heading home from work, ''and Lute believes he deserved it!''

* {{Subverted}} in ''Fanfic/HitList''. The reason a lot of the attackers participate in Ganondorf's plan is because they were bullied, ignored, or marginalized and wanted revenge. This shows up pretty early on, when Link stops one of the shooters from killing Ruto and Darunia out of bitterness over Darnia's popularity and Ruto turning him down when he asked her out. [[spoiler:The end of the fic has Link, when giving a speech commemorating those who died in the attack, calling for special attention to be given to bully victims, so something like that could be prevented in the future.]]

* Creator/JudyBlume's ''Literature/{{Blubber}}'' describes [[KidsAreCruel kids' cruelty and lack of empathy]] very well.

* ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' plays with this. It's averted among the tertiary characters, showing how it affects not only the victim but the perpetrator-- by the time he reforms and wants to make amends, no one wants to be his friend, and no one believes his sincere efforts at redeeming himself. But it's sometimes played straight with the main or secondary characters--Jessica and her friends often get called out for doing this to others--but rarely explicitly punished, whereas behavior from Elizabeth that could be considered this is rarely even acknowledged.
* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/YaquiDelgadoWantsToKickYourAss,'' which specifically targets this assumption (and related ones, like BystanderSyndrome, SlutShaming, and the idea that transferring schools due to bullying is cowardly/an invitation for more ridicule) in its look at school bullying. [[spoiler:Even though the ringleader is punished and the main character is able to transfer schools in the end, she's never the same afterwards and has clear signs of PTSD, taking school bullying ''very'' seriously.]]
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}} Assassins Guild Diary'' takes the "survival of the fittest" view. Since the purpose of the Assassins Guild School is, of course, to produce killers, this is presumably not intended as an actual endorsement by the authors. Especially since it implies that if bullying is resolved by the actual death of the bully, that's survival of the fittest too.
* ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'' takes the SocialDarwinism angle. Yes, the bullies are utterly horrifying monsters, both figuratively and literally in some cases, but the teachers don't give a damn, ''at best'', because it's the victims' own fault that they are too weak/stupid to find an effective way to fight back.

* Ashley from ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' is bullied by another girl. It turns out that [[spoiler:the bully had misunderstood her and they just exchange a few words and reconcile. Their ''parents,'' on the other hand....]]

* Deconstructed a few times in ''Series/CriminalMinds.''
** In the episode "Elephant's Memory," the unsub is a victim of bullying who's become an "injustice collector," a type of serial killer who goes after the people who have wronged him. Not only was the school staff aware of the bullying he and his girlfriend faced, ''so were the police.'' Reid, who endured similar bullying in school, relates heavily to the unsub and blames the community for his actions.

'''Reid:''' They sure do. Right now, Owen is out there sorting it out ''with an assault rifle.''
** The episode "The Anti-Terror Squad" again features a bullying victim lashing out against the bullies in his school. And their families. The episode's title refers to a group of victims who named themselves because the bullying they experienced felt like terrorism, and the BAU team actually agrees. In this case, at least one adult (the school's guidance counselor) did take the bullying seriously and attempt to intervene. Unfortunately, he fell hard into AdultsAreUseless territory, because no one took ''him'' seriously.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''

* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' has an entire subplot involving Creator/SummerGlau's awkward, geeky character who used to be bullied and used. Nobody lucked out on that one.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' even has a bit of anti-bullying messages, namely using Jayne. For all the hell he puts River through, not only does she end up returning it, but Mal sets him straight, almost spacing him. And then she terrifies Jayne in a random lucid moment.
* Deconstructed in ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy''. The bullying and harassment Hannah received over a long stretch of time (which included SlutShaming and [[BlamingTheVictim being blamed for her own rape]]) and the [[AdultsAreUseless lack of help she got from the adults that didn't think it was anything too bad]] drove her past the DespairEventHorizon and [[DrivenToSuicide ultimately kill herself]]. Most of the thirteen people she held responsible for driving her to do this are forced to own up to their actions and are [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone put through the emotional wringer in the process]].
* Deconstructed in ''Series/CobraKai''. The bullying (both in-person and online) that Miguel, Aisha, Eli, and Bert have had to deal with has been largely ignored or written off by the other adults around them who didn't think the bullying was anything worth worrying too much about, even though the kids are hurting and are desperate for some kind of solution. When Johnny reopens the Cobra Kai Dojo, several kids sign up in the hopes of learning ways to defend themselves because they see the classes as the last resort they've got to resolve their problem that they have to take into their own hands. Even when some of the kids go into HeWhoFightsMonsters territory, the narrative makes it clear that they're still good people who've just been pushed way too far. Beyond that, it's also implied that Daniel has PTSD from the bullying he had in his childhood.
* {{Defied}} in the pilot episode of ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael ends up giving self-defense tips to his client's third-grade son after finding out a bully blacked his eye, and then proudly observes the child beating the crap out of said bully before the credits. Michael likens it to his own experience dealing with warlords and dictators in developing countries: they thrive on having people be weaker than them and can only be stopped by their would-be victims fighting back.

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--> ''"But what they forgot was/That you don't need to break my bones for you to break me"''

* One early ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' Sunday strip played with this. Dilbert and Dogbert encounter by chance a former classmate of Dilbert's who used to bully him. Dilbert has a chat with him and at first it seems like it's a Type 4 with Dilbert claiming that the bullying [[MiseryBuildsCharacter made him the man he is today]]...a bitter adult, obsessed with thoughts of revenge. He and Dogbert then proceed to mock the former bully.

* Taken to an absurd degree in the response to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY To This Day Project]]". Not necessarily because of any of the above reasons, but because detractors criticize the program for not focusing on so-called real problems such as [[AppealToWorseProblems starving children and war]]...[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes really]]. It's sadly not too hard to find similar criticisms towards pretty much ''any'' anti-bullying program.

* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Meg's harassment by [[AlphaBitch Connie D'Amico]], a blonde, petite popular girl at James Woods High School, is PlayedForLaughs. Deconstructed whenever Connie ends up getting her comeuppance (usually because of the overkill involved into said comeuppance--like getting [[LovableSexManiac Quagmire]] [[BlackComedyRape to meet her]]).

%%** Type three is shown in the "Sonic Rainboom". The same bullies, as colts, show up in the flash back episode "Cutie Mark Chronicles."

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'': When a girl named Madison keeps bullying a girl named Kaylee, the Franchise/CareBears advise her to tell Madison how she feels and even give her tips on body language. When Madison still refuses to stop the bullying, the Care Bears use a CareBearStare and Madison is forced to cool down and explain ''why'' she's been bullying Kaylee. It turns out it was a case of [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]]. They agree to be friends, but if not for that Care Bear Stare...
* Type 2 on ''[=TOTO=]'' (''This One and That One''), a short-form series featuring two young cat-people, This One and That One, airing on-demand on a service called Creator/{{Kabillion}} on some U.S. cable/satellite providers. When a bully takes This Ones's sandwich, he and That One brainstorm ways to beat the bully, but are overheard by their Mom. She explains that the bully is worried because he might be about to fail math and is trying to make himself look tough. This One and That One reveal that they know his secret and offer to help him with his math, and it works. It can be watched officially, for free, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbFnbNnCVpc&list=UUfirFSEjGS9RzFLutBRrdLQ&index=7&feature=plcp here]].

* Deconstructed in ''Series/CobraKai''. The bullying (both in-person and online) that Miguel, Aisha, Eli, and Bert have had to deal with has been largely ignored or written off by the other adults around them who didn't think the bullying was anything worth worrying too much about, even though the kids are hurting and are desperate for some kind of solution. When Johnny reopens the Cobra Kai Dojo, several kids sign up in the hopes of learning ways to defend themselves because they see the classes as the last resort they've got to resolve their problem that they have to take into their own hands. Even when some of the kids go into HeWhoFightsMonsters territory, the narrative makes it clear that they're still good people who've just been pushed way too far.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Izuku Midoriya (TheHero) starts the story having endured the constant bullying of his former childhood friend mad current bully Katsuki Bakugo for ten years straight, constantly getting hit with attacks from Bakugo's Quirk ([[HavingABlast the capacity of sweating nitroglycerine and setting it off at will]]), being called names (his nickname "Deku" is (at first) a MaliciousMisnaming {{Pun}} on the kanji of his name that means "puppet" (in the 'you're as useless as...' sense)) and in the first chapter even a SuicideDare, all of this brought up by FantasticAbleism (Midoriya being Quirkless in a world where EveryoneIsASuper) and Bakugo's [[SmugSuper absurd sense of superiority]]. Throughout the whole story Izuku absolutely refuses to consider Bakugo as nothing else but a friend and even shrugs off some of his behavior as "Kacchan being Kacchan", and even when Bakugo endures CharacterDevelopment into a more standard JerkWithAHeartOfGold, the idea of asking for forgiveness for such a long period of being a bully is never even hinted at by either boy, even when they eventually have their colossal rival-on-rival fight including Izuku telling Bakugo that [[NotAfraidOfYouAnymore he's not afraid of him anymore]] (the reason? [[spoiler:Katsuki wants to commit professional seppuku for being a big part in the DisasterDominoes that forced All Might to retire, and Midoriya is gonna be dragged down with him unless he makes Katsuki get the hell over it.]] Again, the bullying is '''never''' brought up).