I had to defend myself; it just increased my rage and didn’t feel in the slightest bit “empowering”. Feeling completely on your own, knowing that you are surrounded by nothing but people who are either enemies or indifferent is not “empowering”. It just made me hate them all.
My personal experience is that telling a teacher worked. I’ve never understood all these people who apparently had teachers who didn’t give a crap.
As for violence: I don’t think I ever saw that in the bullying form. Violence was between equals–both sides being the idiots who actually thought violence was okay. These were the people everyone looked down upon.
They were both bigger, meaner, with a tougher reputation. One had a knife. I still beat the crap out of him. I had just had enough.
I actually think it may have done him some good, in an odd way.
You’ve never understood just because your personal experience is that your telling teachers worked. You were fortunate.
I think the OP needs one more option: Fight back, kick bully’s butt, then tell teacher. (Not mentioning your defense).
Exactly what I came in to post.
There needs to be an option for BOTH.
If a child is bullied or knows of another kid being bullied, the child needs to tell an adult. If the bullying becomes aggressive, children need to know how to defend themselves.
And if the school is stupid enough to try to punish children for being the victim of an attack and defending themselves, the parents need to get a lawyer and rain down the wrath of the ghods on the school management as well as the school board that implemented the moronic zero tolerance policy in the first place.