We need to teach our kids to have thick skins.

I have never understood the mentality of bullying. Why does one person, seemingly unprovoked in any way, feel the need to degrade, harass, or assault another person? Yet this behavior is fairly common across all age groups. It's nothing new -- it's been going on since the world began. And, unfortunately, as long as this earth is populated by human beings, it will continue.

All kinds of programs "addressing the problem" have come and gone, yet "the problem" remains. Parents can assuage the impact, however, by teaching their children to have thick skins against verbal assaults and to have quick fists against physical ones. A bully mentality is not open to reason. One can't use logic and a plea for empathy with them, because they're not logical and they're not feeling. 

They verbally bully to gain attention, but if the victim ignores the jabs, all the fun is taken away, and they will eventually grow bored and find another victim. Physical assault is another matter. The bully never expects his weaker victim to fight back -- and how many bullies have you known who picked on a victim phsyically stronger than themselves? Go to the authorities -- school, law enforcement, or civil suit. When a bully puts his hands on his victim, he has crossed the line from bullying to criminal assault. If the authorities do nothing, put your kid in some good self-defense classes. When he knocks the whey out of the bully, you can rest assured he won't be bothered again. "Let us reason together" rarely works, but Mr. Fist often does.