I was bullied for all of my childhood by other children and for the first three years of my teen years by my stepdad. After I turned 16 though, I grew to be 5' 11" and stronger than most adults at that time. Nobody has picked on me since then, with physical abuse anyhow, primarily because a strong potential offense is a strong deterrent defense. NB: I do not approve of physical violence, although having a physically intimidating appearance does prevent potential conflict from occurring. I will admit that the last time my stepdad wanted to prove how strong he was by attacking me (back when I was 16) I had picked him up and thrown him out the door, but I shouldn't have done that. That was the last time he and I fought, although afterward he switched to just destroying my property (which he reminded me was "his" since everything in his nasty little trailer was "his"), as well as psychological and verbal methods instead.