An old wives’ tale about bullies through the decades is that bullies are cowards and if you stand up to them they will back down. I’ve heard many stories and seen a few instances in my own life where a boy got beaten to a pulp because he believed that to be true. If you stand up to a bully who is bigger and physically stronger, the chances are that the bully will respond with physical violence because he can.
If you want to bring in semantics, it could be said that that type of bully is a coward because he is using violence or the threat of it to bully someone who is smaller and weaker than he is. When confronted by someone of equal size and strength, this particular bully won’t be so quick to bully that person because there is a chance that if he does, he will lose. In that respect, you can say that these bullies are cowards but not to their faces.
The problem for the victim is what to do about this bully. Like Mark in “He Was Weird,” who was subjected to such bullying, I found myself in the same predicament when I lived in Margate, NJ. In the case in which I refer to as ‘The Episode’ in the book, which is based on an actual experience of mine, Mark was beaten up by a boy who was a bully and his bicycle was destroyed. In this instance, because it occurred on school property, the school got involved and the bullies were sanctioned, even threatened with police involvement should it happen again. While those bullies left Mark alone after that, they used the sanction as a badge of honour and this led to more problems for Mark. Some bullies offered to beat him up to see if criminal charges would be brought against them.
There have been cases where the victim matches violence with more violence. I’ve heard accounts where a victim brings a weapon to school and uses it on the bully. Even if this is successful, since the bully is usually more favoured by the masses than the victim, the bully will become the victim. All previous wrongs done by the bully are forgotten and the victim is the one facing suspension from school or criminal charges. In the extreme cases, that weapon is a gun which leads to further tragedy. Mark had first hand experience of that in the story.
Another suggestion for victims is that they take up some form of martial arts. At first glance, this sounds like a great idea but there are some cautions that bullying victims should be aware of. I mention these in an ancient post, “You Should Take Karate.” https://peacefulrampage.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/you-should-take-karate/
Going back to the original question, are bullies cowards? In one sense, they are because they know that if it comes to physical combat, they will win and that is why they use the threat of violence for their own ends. However, they will not attempt to bully one who is as strong as they are because of the possibility of losing. On the other hand, if a victim thinks that standing up to a bully because they are cowards is a good idea, it’s not. This will only end in a beatdown.
To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1595965522&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1