It's kinda sad that I've been called a troll and modded down for being the only one in this thread to suggest that perhaps social skills and popularity rather than violence are the best way to avoid being a target of bullies.
bullying them for being different is wrong.
We're not arguing about whether bullying is wrong, we're assuming that bullies exist and arguing about what the best way to protect your kids from bullies is. And I still argue that a dozen good friends is worth a whole lot more than an orange belt in karate... and those social skills are probably a lot more useful in later life too.
not giving a damn about fashion
Fashion, n. A despot whom the wise ridicule and obey. -- Ambrose Bierce
Having been bullied myself, social skills often don't make a difference. All you have to do is cross a bully's path on the wrong day and from then on your life's a misery. Once you're tagged low down in the pecking order, most kids will go along with the bully, so nobody will talk to you or give you a chance to practice your social skills, much less a dozen of them.
I had a friend in Uni who had to move schools twice - once to get away from the bullies, a second time when the kids at his new school found out that he'd moved due to being bullied. He was fine up until that point, but as soon as he'd been pegged as a victim, the bullying started up again.
So it's not sad that you're being called a troll. You don't seem to have a particularly sound grasp of what some kids go through, and yet you're quite happy to take up an inflammatory position (kids who get bullied are asking for it by not having social skills, and should just shape up). That's pretty much a textbook definition.
bullying them for being different is wrong.
We're not arguing about whether bullying is wrong, we're assuming that bullies exist and arguing about what the best way to protect your kids from bullies is. And I still argue that a dozen good friends is worth a whole lot more than an orange belt in karate... and those social skills are probably a lot more useful in later life too.
not giving a damn about fashion
Fashion, n. A despot whom the wise ridicule and obey. -- Ambrose Bierce