Zero tolerance ends up punishing the victims, often instead of the bullies. Furthermore, it doesn't even work. If the bully gets punished then the victim will

Zero tolerance ends up punishing the victims, often instead of the bullies. Furthermore, it doesn't even work. If the bully gets punished then the victim will likely suffer worse. The victims very quickly learn that there is no help, the victimhood must be hidden even from well-meaning parents and authority figures. Their blundering efforts to help only make the problem worse. They think they solved the problem when they really just drove it underground. It "works", they keep using that strategy rather than doing something effective which would be very difficult. Parents, understand that you probably have only one chance to address it, if you fail to solve it you won't know unless your child suffers injuries they can't hide.