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And rightly so, Wellard.
I totally agree on how severe a problem this is.
Cerek, I don't think respect is earned by hitting someone. Any dumb moron can hit a person, does that make YOU respect them?
I agree that sometimes, it is a good thing for a bully to get a taste of his/her own medicine, and that may include getting a good whupping. But I completely disagree that this is the only way to do it, or that it's always a good way. As Bardan says, a lot of the time it's the bullied kid that gets the busted lip when it comes to fighting.
Standing up to a bully is the way to stop the bullying, I agree, but it can be physical and verbal. What's more important however is that the outsiders DON'T ALLOW the bullying. In most classes, there's one kid that gets bullied, a small group headed by a leader that does the bullying, and the rest sits and watches and does nothing. THAT sort of cowardice is what needs to be broken. I know what I'm talking about - I was in a class where people got bullied. Not severely, but they might have been if the rest of the class hadn't made it clear that they wouldn't stand for the bullying. If you make clear in a relaxed, mature way that you look down on the bully, are not impressed by his or her antics, it does help. The bullied kid is often not in the position to do so, but the rest of the class is.
Bullying is a social problem; if you feel bad for those who are bullied, you can at least do something about it yourself. What allows this to happen is the fact that the majority of people hides in the crowd and doesn't speak out.
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