Bullying

[nclib]

Bullying should certainly be taken quite seriously. Children have a lot less protection from the schoolyard bully than adults do from a violent/harassing adult. Society blames victims of bullying far more than victimized adults, and does not stigmatize the bully as much as an adult offender even when their actions are identical.

As for beating up the bully, a) it's not necessarily physically possible, b) we shouldn't put the burden on the victim, c) some adults who have the attitude of 'let kids deal with it themselves', often end up nevertheless punishing the victim when he/she eventually retaliates. Also, often the bullying will continue regardless of how the victim responds (or doesn't respond).

As for the child being frowned upon for turning to an adult, yes adults can't always be there, but since adults often are nearby anyway, this is certainly preferable to simply dealing with it.