Photo: Rido (Shutterstock)
There’s some logic to ignoring bullies, as we’ve discussed before. At the same time, plenty of you feel that the advice to “just ignore them!” is, well, “unmitigated bullshit.” As reader revchewie shares, “The adults who gave me this advice (when I was a kid, in the ‘70s) must have had softer bullies than I did. Because yeah, my bullies wanted a reaction. And they’d keep going until they got one.”
Instead, consider this approach from Parliamentarian of Crows: “Our son started getting verbally bullied in fifth grade and we trained him to just roll his eyes and say ‘cool story’ whenever someone started with him. They gave up in less than a week.”
Fighting back isn’t necessarily about “winning” said fight. Here’s how Karaam A. King put it on our Facebook page:
“Former bullied kid here. Here’s what worked for me: FIGHT BACK! Even if you get mangled. I learned that a bully always will take an easy target. If you push me and I punch you in the face, you’ll probably hit me back. But you’ll look for someone easier next time who won’t fight back. In many cases, they even respect you. If not, they’ll move on. Also doesn’t hurt to learn how to fight.”
Unfortunately, bullies might not “leave you alone.” Your strategy to ignore them could result in the bully escalating their tactics. Consider alternative ways to show that you’re totally unfazed by their attacks—or be ready to fight back.
