Bullying was a major problem in school when I was young. Nowadays there exists an entirely new dimension in the form of cyberbullying. About a third of kids at school claim to be a regular victim. Bullying is a serious problem that can change the character and confidence of people for their entire life and preventing it should be among top priorities of schools.
A victim, in the short term, may feel depressed, anxious, angry, have excessive stress, learned helplessness, feel as though their life has fallen apart, have a significant drop in school performance, or may commit suicide (bullycide). In the long term, they may feel insecure, lack trust, exhibit extreme sensitivity (hypervigilant), or develop a mental illness such as psychopathy, avoidant personality disorder or PTSD. They may also desire vengeance, sometimes leading them to torment others in return. source
But the problem is very complex. Conflicts among kids are common and natural. Interference is only required in more severe cases, while many conflicts are better sorted out among the kids without adult interference. It is never an easy task to help the victim. Interference may only worsen the situation or the bullying is transferred to places beyond the school. There are no easy solutions. Difficult case by case decisions need to be made.
Almost all schools I know have anti-bullying seminars, special teachers that are there to help victims and so on. But these only work on paper. Its a simple one-size-fits-all solution and the responsible teachers still have to give regular classes full time and do this as an extra responsibility. Anti-bullying is something schools are required to have, but that is not allowed to cost any resources. Its no surprise that little good comes from these measures.
The view of parents, the schools and the government diverge significantly on this topic. The government wants so save money and have simpel answers for public outreach, the teachers want to somehow get through the day without messing up too many kids and the parents want their children to be safe and in a positive environment. A classic misalignment of interests that cannot be solved by incompetent government officials that are responsible for the decisions.
The root of the problem are public schools, where the parents dont pay, and the state does not provide what the parents and children want. Its not that the teachers dont want to help, they simply cannot. With private education in a free market (that does not have to compete against public schools), bullying could be prevented much better and there would be more resources for methods that are proven to work. Parents are willing to pay more for good schools and can put pressure when their needs are not respected. Instead of measures proposed by politicians that have no idea about cyberbullying and have last visited a school 50 years ago, modern research on the topic could be employed.