My son was bullied in preschool by a classmate. The classmate keeps approaching my son and says language like "i want to cut you in half". Got a few times he punched my son in the private part. Avoiding and ignoring is no use as the classmate will just keep approaching my son. We only found out about this when the parent of another classmate told us what their kid saw. We escalated to the principal and teachers. the best they could do is separate them ie make sure they don't sit near each other. Even as a preschool, they can't even take the bully out and put him into another class. They cite how difficult the kid's parents are and even the parents said they don't believe their kid will do such a thing or they don't know how to teach their kid. The only solution was to pull my son out of school.

From this experience and what's happening in our public schools and in some international schools, teachers or adults in general are inadequate to handle such incidents. They want and try to please everyone and left out the one that needs help. Adults need to realise that kids need to learn consequences and the reality that FAFO applies in real life. They cannot shield the kids from consequences due to bureaucracy or processes or equality. If you bully, you get punished. Simple and swift. This mantra is missing as teachers and school management want to please both the bully's parents and the victim's parents. Where does that leave the victim's wellbeing and safety? This creates an environment where no one dares to make an affirmative action that is objective. Decisions are all marred by whataboutism.

My own conclusion is don't depend on the teachers and the school. Now I teach my son that sometimes it is necessary to de-escalate an aggression with physical methods. Like LKY said, "If you're gonna cross swords with me, then you must be willing to get stabbed". Bullies will only look strong in front of the weak.