Interesting exercise to try to eliminate bullying through legislation. Not all evolutionary human behavior is nice or socially acceptable to modern sensibilities. “Bullying” is simply a manifestation by which the weak or the aberrant were cast out of clans, tribes or groups to enhance the body. Unfortunately “tolerance” is not hard wired into human behavior.
Yes, some extreme examples exist, but in general, every kid get razzed for being too tall/short, fat/skinny, pretty/ugly, rich/poor, smart/dumb, for walking funny, talking funny, looking different in ANY way, having weird/crappy parents, wearing the wrong shoes, wearing the wrong colors, being overly attached to (ANYTHING), overreacting to (ANYTHING), etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc. Kids SEEK OUT something to address you about, and see what kind of reaction it gets. We do this as INFANTS with our parents. We engage the world around us and see how it reacts. If it reacts in a way that interests us, we do it again... and again and again and again and again, until it no longer interests us.
The rite of passage, the test, the puzzle is to figure out how to make it stop if we do not like it... how to make it less interesting or beneficial to the aggressor. The number of solutions are as varied as the number of bullies and the umbers of things to be harassed about. One can ignore it in a way that shows it doesn't bother you at all (folding arms and meekly pouting is NOT the proper ignoring technique). One can side with the bully, and adopt the insults as badges of honor (thus taking away his fun.. yeah, I'm the fattest kid in school watch how my tummy jiggles! Woo-hoo! Get others to laugh, and gain popularity and status form it. Bully schooled, and moves on to the next target). One can go to the physical reactions. too, when needed. (I had a taller kid spit in my hair in line at lunch. I did nothing, as the new, shy, scared kid in a Texas school. It got worse, fast. By the end of the week, it took beating him with a chair and a week's suspension to gain the necessary status to ward away other potential future bullies. HUGE mistake to not react the very first time.)
The point is that this is human (AND animal!) nature, and legislating it away will never work, and will continue to work counter to our instincts. It can only have bad unintended consequences.
Bullying works in the animal kingdom. Homos are quick to point out that there are homo penguins and giraffes.
Young lions are chased away from the pack until they are strong enough to challenge the alpha male.