Bully Victims (targets) treated like Criminals
 
Ask any councilor, school official or anyone in authority what the biggest problem they face when it comes to bullying and they will usually tell you that kids won’t report it. Their reasoning is that the kids don’t want to be a stool pigeon, or accused of ratting out, or telling on someone. This may be valid in a very few cases, but in most cases it’s NOT.
 
The real reason most victims and families are reluctant to come forward is the fear of not being believed. Frequently in bully situations, especially if the bully is a popular bully which is the case most of the time, the parents of the victim have nothing more than a sobbing bruised child with no witnesses, supporters or proof. The child knows exactly who is doing this to them and can describe what is happening and where, but that’s it. No evidence to support their claim. This creates a “my word against theirs” situation. This imbalance is typical of bullying. No one wants to be on the losing side so everyone supports the bully.

One study conducted by The Association of Chief Psychologists with Ontario School Boards says;

Why does the victim not reveal that he/she is being harassed or beaten up or whatever? The answer is, of course, that the victim is afraid of retaliation from the bullies. But if we analyze that reasoning, it really says that the victim does not believe that we, the adults, can or will protect him. And why would a victim fear that we can't or won't provide protection? Because we don't. And we don't, in part at least, because our culture has immersed bullying in a mythology that says that if a child is being bullied, especially a boy, adult intervention will make matters worse.

Besides the mythology described above, there is another cultural factor that mitigates against adults taking action. As has been suggested in countless studies of victimology, we tend to dislike victims. A consequence of this dislike is that adults who discover a bullying situation, first tend to look for evidence that the victim in fact caused the problem and brought the bully's wrath upon himself. This is often clear from the "interrogation" which greets children who approach adults for help:

"What did you do?";
"Did you say anything to those bigger boys?";
"Why were you playing in that area when you know that's where the big boys play?";
"Why did you wear your new shoes when you must have known they would tease you if you wore them?".

Such questions are unsettling in the context of serious bullying. Their impact is even more disturbing when we note their resemblance to questions often posed to other victims subjected to blame, namely women reporting harassment or even rape:

"Did you know the man or talk to him?";
"Why were you in that part of town at night?";
"What were you wearing?";
"Were you drinking?".
This behaviour on the part of authority figures serves to demonstrate to the victim that instead of protection they might well get blamed for the very problem they are reporting. The message is clear. Victims should find a way to solve the problem themselves, or simply live with it.

The problem with our authorities, is their outdated archaic  beliefs. Investigators believe that good guys wear white and bad guys wear black. If on arrival, the bullies don't look and act like bullies. The authorities automatically type cast the people involved and draw conclusions. When this occurs, those in authority frequently ignore physical evidence and put greater weight on what the bully and the bully supporters say rather than view things objectively and fairly. In any bully/victim situation, the bully will usually be surrounded by supporters. These supporters usually are both children and adults that will paint a picture of the bully as being anything but a bully. They may describe the bully as being friendly, entertaining and an all around good person. They will then immediately counter accuse the victim of being the bully and the attacker. They will say things about the victim that isn’t true just to discredit them. Child supporters of the bully will usually make up stories about how the victim is always bothering them and that they aren’t doing anything to the victim. Adult supporters of the bullies will usually accuse the victim and family of frequently making false claims, they will say the victim is having mental problems, being abusive etc. To help the bullies, the authorities may use a fake investigation to legitimize the bully’s version.
 
In the end, coming forward with a bully complaint can and usually does make things much worse for the victim and family. Once the authorities have decided  that your complaint is false, the bullying you were complaining about will seem insignificant to the bullying you are about to deal with. After the complaint is dismissed by the authorities, the bullies will probably wait a while and then launch a vicious reprisal. Revenge will be on their minds and they will now plot ways to get back at you to punish you for speaking up. Frequently the authorities will help with the reprisal as they now view you as the problem.  The attacks rarely come directly from the original bully. Instead, the bullies will encourage their supporters to attack the victim to draw attention away from the original source. The supporters of the bullies will gossip about what happened and convince otherwise uninvolved people to help with the reprisal. The original bully may no longer even know who all the attackers are as the gossip will become distorted and the victim and family will be painted as evil people  that need to be gotten rid of.  Neighborhood Bullying is the result.
 
What the authorities don’t comprehend or are simply to slow to see, is the fact that many by-standers will know the truth. They will watch and observe the events as they play out and see the reprisal. They will then talk amongst themselves and realize that reporting bullying is bad.
 
At a time when both the parents and child need some comfort, understanding and a friendly person to talk to, they find themselves being questioned in a police interrogation room, threatened and intimidated. The original child victim is forgotten ignored and left feeling worse than ever. Then everyone acts surprised and shocked when the victim resorts to drug abuse, alcohol abuse or suicide to solve their problem.  It would be fair to say in a case such as this that the authorities are responsible for the reprisal against the victim and the consequences to the child.
 
The government at all levels knows what to do. Information about the proper way to handle bullying complaint is abundant. See know your rights.
 
 http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/res/cp/bully_12217-en.asp
 
Here is what the experts say we should expect.
If you are a leader of an organization responsible for young people (e.g. a school principal or manager of a sports team or other youth program) The NCPS wishes to acknowledge the support and assistance of Drs. Pepler and Craig, through the Canadian Initiative for the Prevention of Bullying, in the development of this document.

A few examples of what happens when you try to do something and come forward with a bully complaint and the authorities call you a liar.
 
Fingerprinted_and_checked_for_DNA a victims story.

Think you have the right to protect your children? Think Again!
Bullying victims father denies assaulting bully part1
Father convicted for shaking bully part 2

Bullies attack and everyone makes excuses, but god help you if you as a victim dare to fight back.
Bully victim gets tired of teasing

Manitoba Child and Family Serviced issued this letter without ever speaking to the victim or family
CFS letter

When victims of bullying are treated like this, they have three choices
1. Stop complaining knowing the bullying will simply increase and life will become more and more miserable
2. Continue complaining knowing you will be called a liar and you and your family could be arrested
3. Suicide


Note: the same reasons for not reporting bullying is usually found when crimes are committed. People believe that reporting a crime such as a car break in, vandalism, assaults, theft etc. will be received by a caring concerned law enforcement official. This is not the case some times instead, you MAY be received with suspicion and the police, government worker councilor or any other official will treat you like you are lying and try to intimidate you. The experience usually is so poor that it is unlikely that you would ever make another report of a crime or even get involved as a witness ever again. You will then tell your family and friend about your treatment and they too will be reluctant to report a problem.  The result is a reduction in complaints that government can use as spin for the public.