Comment by Der_Einzige

We live in the literal era of life imitating art and you think I'm off base?

You're off base. Sure there is a sort of "natural" instinct to play hierachy games and even for some to bully within all humans, but to imply that this isn't wildly skewed from country to country or culture to culture indicates that you simply haven't been exposed to one of the situations where bullying is cracked down upon.

It's quite rare to see "bullying" in the traditional sense within a lot of south east asia since the teachers are so shitty and strict, often there's an "us vs them" mentality that develops unique amount of camaraderie between students and teachers.

Bullying reasons are also totally different. "Four Eyes" and other stuff against glasses is super duper uncommon, again in Asia since almost literally everyone there now wears glasses. Go to South Korea and you won't be bullied for sitting in front of a computer all the time, but you certainly will for being fat.

But nerds getting shoved in lockers? The entirety of the "Krelboynes" in malcom in the middle? In poor countries, smart kids are seen as a one way ticket out of the hell-hole known as poverty and are often the most popular in their schools.