[quote name='Spokker']The key to dealing with bullying is to treat it as the crime that it is. Assault, harassment, battery, intimidation, theft, etc. I don't know why there is such hesitation to treat it this way. If understanding and tolerance (achieved through mission statements and awareness!) were all that we needed to eradicate crime, we wouldn't need the courts or laws or anything. The limp-wristed methods of combating bullying only enable it. Solutions to step it up and take the law into your own hands and assaulting your bully as revenge is equally dumb, though I do support self-defense for victims of bullying. It's too often the case that those who do defend themselves in the heat of the moment are punished as well.[/QUOTE]
I filed a harassment suit against someone. I had evidence that he told me he was a schizophrenic psycho and was going to bring his friends to kill me. The case was dismissed because the kid is 18 with mental issues. The judge even said, "You both sound like bright kids, why are you harassing each other?" I never harassed him, but he lied under oath to make it seem like we were equally to blame. Courts are run by people, and people aren't perfect. Your first line of defense should always be to stand up for yourself, and if you happen to get hurt, you bring that evidence to court with you and guarantee yourself a victory.
See, in my experience I was never physically touched. If I had been, I would have defended myself, but I probably also would have won the case. The judge wouldn't give me a third reasonable instance of harassment, despite me having eight instances, because the rest was all talk.