Reminds me of the story of Teddy Roosevelt. Some poor idiot took offense to him ordering a cup of coffee once, not realizing he was picking a fight with Harvard's runner-up boxing champion (or so the story goes :-D)

Girl or boy, I'm a firm believer in taking self-defense classes like that though, be it boxing, martial arts, or what-have-you. :-D

Weirdly though, I actually never had a problem. I was lucky. I had a few bullies who were all talk, but after I inadvertently befriended a few kids who I'd swear were gang members (Not that they ever tried to recruit me or anything), and somehow ended up befriending the varsity quarterback, people were scared of me after awhile >_>

Err, anyway. I digress, drift, and babble. :-D

"Zoe, you are definitely the Queen of Sweetness with these Robin stories!"
~ Tychonaut

That's a solution that works for some people but not for everyone. It's effective against single bullies but is not effective or even safe against groups of bullies who gang up on single victims.

Here's another solution that won't work for everyone or in every situation.

In the seventh grade, after having watched others be victimized and getting bullied myself, I told teachers about what was going on. They said, if we don't see it, we can't do anything about it. I told my father, he said next time, make sure they see it. I said how. He said, don't wait for them to start it at their choice of time and place. If you've reported it and the school has done nothing, then you're still within your rights for self-defense to start a fight with the teachers watching.

So the next day when I saw three of the bullies head for the part of the schoolyard where the younger kids played, I took a two-by-four from a nearby construction site and went after them. I didn't hit anybody but only because I let them duck and dodge and run. The teachers were laughing but told me to go to the principal's office.

Mr. G. said he would have to call my parents. I said, call my dad, he works just down the street. Dad was water superintendent. Dad came and said yes, I had started a fight because he had told me to and that he would get someone fired if I were suspended because of it since I was only doing what the school had failed to do--protect myself and other kids. They compromised on a half-day suspension, the rest of that day which was almost over.

There has to be an easier way to do it.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.