Yeah, I remember being bullied at school and it does stick with you. Making your kid go through school as a JW is cruel and unloving - anything that makes you stand out as "weird and different" is like waving a flag saying "pick on me!".
Public schools are the only place most people will ever encounter real violence. That and prison. Both usually badly run by the government. I think there's a decent chance that the bullies end up in prison later in life. I like the thought of that.
I wasn't bullied after I went all "Rocky Balboa" on a kid who was picking on me during a class (literally, everyone was chanting "Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!"). I got sent to see the head of year who also happened to be my English teacher. She started saying "so you two boys have been fighting in cla ...", looked up and exclaimed "Simon?!". She then asked me what happened, I told her, she gave the other kid detention and I was sent back to class (to another chorus of "Rocky! Rocky!" chants). He objected that he hadn't said his side and she said "what would the point be of hearing you lie? I've already heard what actually happened". There are benefits to the "honest" reputation after all.
In the playground one of the tough kids came up to me saying "I heard you beat (whatever his name was) up in class?" and I thought "uh oh!" ... after a timid nod he face lit up and he said "nice one! I heard it was awesome!".
That was my short-lived career as a fighter.
