not necessarily, sara. when my son was badly bullied by an older child at school and hit, i did all the right things as you say and got nowhere by speaking to the school and police. so, i cornered the little ****** when he was on his way home and told him if he ever touched my son again, i would follow him all the way home and beat the crap out of his mother , then him and then explain the reasons why. funnily enough, he never touched or spoke to my son again. if anyone touched my child or hurt him in any way, i'd mash them. even if i had to loiter in dark alleys for months on end. simple as that, really. and before i get any comments, i am a civilised human being, with no criminal record etc, pay my taxes and have a 'responsible' job, but i'd still happily lose all of that to defend my son, get some revenge and teach a little scrote a life lesson. shame more people don't, really. personally i think its why society is so crap these days - kids think they are untouchable and act as such.