When I was a very young child, I experienced a horribly scary event that not only made a lasting impression on me but also awakened my awareness of the existence of bullies, people who prey on those whom they consider weak, defenseless, or “less than” they are.

I particularly remember the feeling of helplessness that I experienced that day. That I can so clearly recall this event today, many decades later, signifies the impact it had on my life.

As a young child I watched bullies repeatedly pick on my brother because he was not a strong boy. My mother told me he had been born with a hole in his heart, and I was very protective of him, even though I was younger.

One day we were playing together in the backyard of our row home when a group of boys picked up rocks from the nearby trolley tracks, taunted us, and then started pelting us.

We were trapped. The heavy metal cellar door slammed down and had latched when we first came out to play, and we would have had to walk...