I never claimed to be any kind of arbiter on "what should and shouldn't upset people". Yes, it would be wonderful if everyone in the world would just join hands and live together in harmony, but seriously, it's NEVER going to happen. Assholes & bullies will continue to be who they are, letting yourself get all eaten up inside because of what one or more of them says only serves to validate their actions.
School-enforced (and other) zero tolerance policies on things like bullying will accomplish vary little, if anything at all(punishments are not always a terribly effective deterrent). It is not possible (and more than a bit embarrassing and detrimental to even try) to shield a child from life.
A MUCH better course of action would be trying to build their self-confidence and teach children things like good coping skills, and healthy ways to deal with ridicule and their (often, puberty induced, hormonally-imbalanced) emotions like embarrassment, fear, anger, resentment, and sadness. If schools really want to be part of the solution, (and I really do think that would be fantastic, as some of a child's most formative years occur during the early-to-mid years of their education) they can take the time and money they are spending on enforcement of zero tolerance policies and create an elective class or a before school or after school program with the aim of teaching these skills. Who knows, in the process of this more teachers may even realize that students are actually human beings and not merely some device to be built on an assembly line.
In the end, though, education starts at home and far too many parents take an near-criminally hands-off approach to raising their children and most if not all of these things I mentioned are the responsibility of the parent(s) to impart. If having done so, I believe, many of these senseless deaths and a fair amount of general adolescent dysfunction would never have to happen.