On bullying and "protecting" the bullied

While I'm not saying that bullying is okay nor that it should be tolerated, I think that the media's and the general Filipino population's take on the subject today is a little, in my opinion, misdirected. Why? Because the general call is for more punishment for the bullies and more protection for the bullied. This is a little too artificial. There will always be bullies and, sometimes, the bullied themselves are also simultaneously bullies; there's a pecking order. So instead of "legislatively" and "externally" protecting the bullied, the bullied and the may-be-bullied should be taught how to deal with the bullies and handle the situation themselves -- because bullying and getting bullied (intimidating and getting intimidated) are social interactions that we all will experience at least once in our life, and legislating protection for the "potential bullying victim" may actually deprive us necessary life skills.