Agree that it’s worth nagging all the adults at the school NOW to make sure they are all on alert for it. My kid had an ongoing issue and then when there was a non-core teacher monitoring lunch and a physical altercation happened, he just assumed my kid was 50 percent at fault (as opposed to a victims of bullying) because he didn’t know the backstory.
In short, EVERY adult in your kids orbit should be on alert.
And secondly, you can teach him to ignore but you CANNOT tell him to fight back because kids escalate. A friends son “fought back”. and the next day he was jumped like 50 feet outside the school, by an older brother who came to the school and waited til he walked out. You cannot be engaging in this stuff.
Third… ask them to have a lunch plan for him. A specific lunch bunch that he sits with, ability to eat in a teachers room, etc. same for recess. These are the least supervised periods of the day and when stuff is most likely to happen.
Good luck. Middle school is awful. Keep outside-of-school friendships up…or find favored weekend activities… when school is garbage a kid needs to have a good weekend every weekend if they are going to be able to cope.
hugs to you both.

First, since it is early in the school year, escalate to nip it in the bud.

Second, indeed document everything. See if your school has a bullying policy and see what is and what is not falling in within that policy. Usually bullying requires a long duration (which u want to avoid). If it continues and falls squarely within policy, go in guns blazing.

Anonymous wrote:You should have kept him in private.

Nah, private bullying is even worse. The families are uber entitled.

Document it all. In most school districts bullying is not tolerated any more. Tell your kid to lay low and not react, and document everything. Take it to the administration. Many schools will come down hard on any hints of bullying.

The worst thing your kid can do is react or fight back. They wont win but they will lose victim credibility.