I can't speak for every (or most, or even some) case of bullying. But keep in mind when someone says "I was bullied and the teachers did nothing" they are sayin

I can't speak for every (or most, or even some) case of bullying. But keep in mind when someone says "I was bullied and the teachers did nothing" they are saying that from the memory of a 10 - 17 year old with little to no insight of what was happening from the perspective of the adults. There are a million things that could result in a student bullying other kids. Are their parents drug addicts? Alive? Are they living out of their car? Does the bully go to bed hungry because the only time he gets meals is from school? Is the bully depressed and cutting themselves? Is the bully a drug addict? Is the bully working a night job so he can help his family pay rent? None of these are things you can (legally) tell the target of their bullying and should be dealt with in ways other than "significant punishment". So from the perspective of the bullied, it looks like nothing is being done. But in the background, there are probably several adults working to remediate the situation. Also, there probably aren't enough counselors/admins and your bully just isn't high enough on the bully-list to be dealt with (ie, that kid that is hitting people in the face with chairs needs to be dealt with before the kid that calls other kids names... and there are still 10 unfilled positions at the school). Or the staff doesn't have the right training. Or maybe the bully is just an a-hole. Or the bully is a [rich|important|litigious] person's kid.