[skwirl]

According to a Microsoft survey, India is the third worst country in the world for online bullying[1]. The same survey showed that 54% of Indian students report being bullied offline, and 50% report having bullied someone offline. I think you are quite mistaken in your assessment of your schools.

Studies have shown bullying to be universal among not only humans, but all primates and many social mammals[2] (such as rats and dolphins). Among human societies, bullying is present across the board, from hunter gatherer groups through post industrial societies.

That isn't to say that it can't or shouldn't be dealt with, but you are dead wrong when you say it isn't universal.

[1] http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...

[2] http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/12/15/th...

[yarou]

It may be universal, but as you yourself suggest, it is highly dependent on cultural constraints. To talk of bullying in India without understanding communal tensions is ignorant and takes away from the rest of your valid points.