politically correct

I've had some issues in recent weeks with some bullying on the playground. The teacher and I have been dealing with both the "victims" and the "bullies". We've been doing quite a bit of reading on the issue to see how we can get everyone past this.
One of the most shocking things I've learned is that recent literature does not refer to "bullies" but rather to "children who are relationally-challenged." Relationally-challenged -- are you kidding me? We've reached the point in society that even those who go out of their way to hurt and to damage others need to be referred to in a politically correct way, so not to alter their self-esteem.
Incidentally -- It used to be assumed that those who bully did so because they lacked self-esteem. Recent research indicates that most often that is not true -- bullies exude self-confidence.
So who comes up with these terms -- and for what end?
Mean is mean. A bully is a bully. Kids get that -- too bad over-educated adults don't....