Bullys: Sometimes I just want to bully them

The other day I'm in the "Freshmen Hallway" in my school, talking to my sister. It's passing time, so the hall's full kids at their lockers and going to classes. I see a sophomore boy named James on his way to his locker, and suddenly some guy comes up behind him and smacks him in the back of the head with a biology textbook. He hits James HARD, right in the occipital lobe, WITH A BIOLOGY TEXTBOOK! Those things are HUGE!!

I'm really confused at this point, did that actually just happen? I turn to my sister and ask if that kid is James' friend- you know, maybe they're just rough boys. Eyebrows raised and lips pursed, she shakes her head "no". It's a look of disappointment. "Does that kinda stuff happen a lot?", I ask. She nods her head "yes", still sporting that look.

The bully laughs and says "Just had to do it James, just had to." before walking away. James makes a really offended look and rubs the back of his head and opens his locker.

So I go up to James and ask him if he's was OK. He said he was fine, and I said something like "Sorry about that man, people can be such assholes sometimes." He says "thanks"

I know James from when we use to ride the bus together in middle school. He's hyperactive and not very socially graceful, and it's secret that he gets picked on, but I was downright outraged at what I saw. Yeah that's right, down AND out. I guess I've just been living in another word. I never see bullying first hand, so it's out of my mind. Margaret, my sister, says he get's bullied all the time. And get this, it's not even just the students that do it. She tells me about a class she has with James where the teacher ignores the bullying that goes on. Almost WORSE, the teacher pays noticeably more attention to the popular kids in the class and "practically ignores" James.

So, naturally, I ask around. I ask some of my friends what sort of bullying they see, who gets bullied that most, and who does the bullying. Several names come up over and over again, of both girls and boys. The boys are generally harassed both verbally and physically, while the girls are usually just bullied verbally. But regardless of sex, all of these victims seem to have one thing in common:
They are all lash out against the bullying. They become aggressive and sometimes vulgar in response to being harassed, and react, meaning that the bullying gets even more severe. Maybe this makes the bullies feel righteous in their actions.

One girl, that I find infinitely interesting, is known for being an object of ridicule throughout the entire school. Girls that I actually respect and value the opinions of will come up to me and say "Oh my god, did you see what SHE is wearing today?" There is no perfectly human trait that this girl posses that the student body can not ridicule her for. The thing is, she still thinks she's the shit. To quote my sister, "She walks like a bad ass". She carries herself with confidence and pride, regardless of what other people think of her. I'm so interested in her, that I gave her a call, to see if we could get together for and interview. I didn't want to offend, so I mentioned how she seems to stick out from other people. "OHHHHHHHH yeah I do." she said. Right away she knew what I was talking about, and agreed to an interview in the next week. Hopefully it goes well, and hopefully I'll gain some insight and be able to report back on this.