Take him to a gym to start weightlifting, or hire a trainer to show him. His confidence will increase even if his size does not.

It will get better and so I am here mostly to offer support. I also will tell you that sometimes words are not sufficient and I personally would not have an issue if my daughter or son stuck up for themselves and things got physical. This is not uncommon behavior in middle school, either.

FWIW My DD, 12, is one of the taller and stronger ones in her class. To some of the mean girls, she would stomp around in her combat boots, roll her eyes in disgust or employ a dramatic sigh, telling them, "I see you are enjoying being your toxic selves again today" and would walk away. She has learned to use a sharp tongue judiciously, which she most often employed with a few particularly challenging girls last year. This year there has been little to no girl drama in her cohort as the girls don't come for her and she told me she realizes they did not change over the summer and so are likely to be annoying again this year.

As for interactions with boys, she told me she lowered her shoulder and bumped into and nearly knocked over a boy who would not stop calling her friend fat and then proceeded to make fat jokes about him. As the boy stumbled she simply said, "That's for the fat jokes " and stared him down.

While I don't love this behavior, the other kids generally respect my DD and know she won't tolerate nonsense directed at her or her friends.

youre so dumb

Anonymous wrote:"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

Please, not the second one!

“Your mom likes it slow and I have meat on bone where it matters. If you need verification of these facts, ask your mom.”

Anonymous wrote:A girl planning a party kept mentioning over and over to DD that she wasn't invited. DD ignored. Party girl became exasperated at being ignored, "doesn't it bother you that you aren't invited?"

"Well, duh!" said DD

Not sure the response was answering the question, but a response of "duh1" is always a pretty good option.

U really wish that your DD had responded “does it bother YOU?”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely not effective to ignore bullying. I tried it. The bullies just came at me harder.

What worked was me saying, "Well, aren't you the special one, honey baby, honey child." It wasn't clever or cutting, but somehow the bullies backed off and I earned some respect.

If I could have beat them up, I would have. This was in grade 5.

well you did good doing that i would say I’m in ms and there is a lot of fighting but I’m glad I stay out of it I hate getting bullied sometimes I wish I could end my life but I don’t I keep my head up but doubt myself but good job

It gets better!! Middle school sucks for everyone, nationwide. Every adult agrees that middle school sucked. It won’t be long until it’s better. Hang in there.

+1
One day you'll laugh about how ridiculously awful it was

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely not effective to ignore bullying. I tried it. The bullies just came at me harder.

What worked was me saying, "Well, aren't you the special one, honey baby, honey child." It wasn't clever or cutting, but somehow the bullies backed off and I earned some respect.

If I could have beat them up, I would have. This was in grade 5.

well you did good doing that i would say I’m in ms and there is a lot of fighting but I’m glad I stay out of it I hate getting bullied sometimes I wish I could end my life but I don’t I keep my head up but doubt myself but good job

It gets better!! Middle school sucks for everyone, nationwide. Every adult agrees that middle school sucked. It won’t be long until it’s better. Hang in there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sad to say I believe kids need to go for the jugular.

Find their weak point and go after it. Everyone has one. You need to find something that's true that other kids are thinking and will laugh at.

It's rough out there.

Agree 100%.

+2

Anonymous wrote:I'm sad to say I believe kids need to go for the jugular.

Find their weak point and go after it. Everyone has one. You need to find something that's true that other kids are thinking and will laugh at.

It's rough out there.

Agree 100%.

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely not effective to ignore bullying. I tried it. The bullies just came at me harder.

What worked was me saying, "Well, aren't you the special one, honey baby, honey child." It wasn't clever or cutting, but somehow the bullies backed off and I earned some respect.

If I could have beat them up, I would have. This was in grade 5.

well you did good doing that i would say I’m in ms and there is a lot of fighting but I’m glad I stay out of it I hate getting bullied sometimes I wish I could end my life but I don’t I keep my head up but doubt myself but good job