I used to get bullied at school as i was a bit of a loner (by choice, had lots of things going on in the family)
I was always told by my parents to stand up for myself and when one of them tried to get me outside of school, i got him first and walked away. Got into a lot of trouble with the school, even though the bully had a really heavy history of bullying etc.
I think that was the start of the the 'victim is always wrong' syndrome (and that was only 25 ish years ago lol)
I got bullied too, mainly because I had no mum and had been through foster care and eventually to live with my grandparents. Like that wasn't hard enough without being bullied about it.
Repeated visits to school and meetings with parents got me no where. As a child I was ridiculously shy and people around me where stunned when I finally saw red, walked up behind the girl, spun her round and punched her, breaking her nose.
It cost me a trip to the police station and a caution for ABH but it was worth it as the hassle stopped.
I was always brought up that if someone hits you, then hit them back twice as hard.
I see it in my son's school, where I also work, the teaching staff seem to be ruled by the bullys. My son has been punched in the face and no one deemed it important enough to tell me, I had to go in on the bounce to get the information.
If I'd gotten into trouble at school I dreaded my dad finding out as I'd get a rollicking at home too, now it seems that the parents tell the teachers off instead. A sad state of affairs.
We're not even supposed to prompt children's manners as it's their choice if they use them or not. What happened to manners cost nowt but get you far?