Do you think it's a good idea to be overly nice to your antagonist?

I've been doing some thinking about how to deal with antagonists. I'm not in school now as I've been doing (and failing) school work online. I will be back in High school in the 2nd semester.

At first, I thought, "Hey if they bully me then I'll stand up for myself and tell them what's what." Then I came to the conclusion that, that's not a good idea as I am giving the reaction they hope for.

Next, I thought if I laugh at them for their insults and play off of my sense of humor. Then I realize that hurts them more than it does help them and I gain nothing but getting rid of the antagonist. I'm one to understand causes and effects.

Finally, I came to the idea from reading a few stories on here. That if I were just to be kind to my foes then they could probably see that I'm not so bad and I could get a new friend(s) out of it.

I don't know. Being super kind of a bully would be an incredibly difficult thing. Something I think is more for theory than the practical.

What do you people think?