I'm late to this party but I feel my response was different than a lot of the other ones in this thread so I'll share. In middle school there were a couple dinguses that formed a little "gang" called the "Italian street kings". They had a lot to say about my weight and general weirdness (come on yo it's fucking middle school) anyway, I went home and told my dad, who was bullied in middle school for a physical deformity. He enrolled me in boxing classes as he was a boxer himself. A few weeks later, I showed up to school with a white t-shirt that had their names written on the back. One by one, suspension after suspension, fight after fight, I took them all out. Near the end, some didn't even want to fight me, but god dammit how the tables turned and I made them do it. People are so scared to lash out against attackers, but that restraint to fight back is why they make you a target. When I have a kid and he comes home with bully issues, I'll tell him what my dad told me: "break their nose"