Kids in America tend to have fewer coping skills when it comes to bullies... When I went to school, quite a few of the kids would take what a bully said to heart... Often times the parents would tell them to ignore it, but not how to do that... or even offer an explanation as to why a bully would pick them out..
Then the schools tend to be particularly indifferent to the children it has... shove them into class, then shove them out the door at the end of the day. I remember being bullied in school and the teachers told me they didn't have time to deal with something so trivial. Needless to say, I was left to my own devices... so unlike these kids, I took all the bad feelings they put into me and took it out on the bullies themselves when I had enough. The school punished me for it... but I'd rather deal with that than a 24/7 bully.
School systems here in America are horribly indifferent to the children. There will always be bullies... it's the indifference that causes this --- an unregulated social structure in schools.
"The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself, and, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong."
- James Allen