NPR shared a story this weekend of a Mom and two kids who had bully problems. To paraphrase, she informed the principal at school that her child was going to "fight back" as nothing else was working. Her child did, and the bullying stopped. Her take was that passive resistance didn't work, and that sometimes one needs to (defensively) fight back. This mirrors my own experience. I was bullied for years until I snapped one day and fought back. I have never had a physical altercation since then. It seems bullies can spot an easy target.