Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Who Fought Back Against Bullies Share Their Experiences

People Who Fought Back Against Bullies Share Their Experiences

Two sets of young men stand on opposite sides of a hallway pointing fingers at one another

Photo by Jerry Zhang on Unsplash

Everyone in life has a bully or six to face.

Even the bullies have bullies.

And sometimes the bully is in the mirror.

Now I know we're supposed to only use our words when standing up to our bullies.

But that is not always the most ideal form of defense.

Words can work.

Sometimes words can cut like knives leading us to victory.

And sometimes words aren't sufficient as we've learned from Reddit.


Redditor KiLLz_Smanrx7 was hoping people would open up about dealing with bullies, so they asked:

"People who fought back against bullies, what caused it and how badly did the bully get hurt?"

I can't remember my bullies.

I think that's the best recourse.

For my Sister

A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditorGiphy

"I think I was about 10. He'd been bullying me and my sisters for a couple of years. He tried to sneak up on my sister on the bus. He stretched out his hand like he was going to pull her hair or something. I made a fist, swung it backwards and him in the eye. He cried."

Fun_in_Space

Shattered Pride

"Little bit of backstory first. We were playing tackle the carrier. I was a fourth grader, and I tackled a sixth grader, and he got pissed off and started to kick me."

"I let it happen a few times a teacher was literally looking right at me. After about the fourth time I grabbed his leg and lifted. He fell backwards then I punched him in the face twice. He only got a bloody nose and shattered pride. We each got suspended for three days. My mom was pissed at the school after they told the story to her. Then when she watched the footage, she asked me in front of the principal if there was a new game I wanted."

"Principal was mad but my mom said 'I never teach my boys to start anything. But when the teacher refused to end it he did by defending himself.' Best three day weekend ever. P.S. we were related threw marriage and he got in huge trouble with his convict dad for getting beat up by a little kid."

Titalator

Keep Walking

"For some reason this kid had it in his head that he could beat me up. I’ve no idea why, or where his assumption came from but he wanted a fight with me to prove he could. I couldn’t care less if he could or couldn’t. It simply didn’t interest me."

"For a week or more he would goad me on the school bus with things like 'who do you think would win in a fight?' Etc. I was having none of it, I wasn’t interested in fighting anyone and I didn’t care what he or anyone else thought on the matter."

"He squared up to me several times off the bus trying to get me to fight with him and I just kept telling him to leave me alone and kept walking away."

"After several days of this and him getting nowhere, as I was walking away chatting with my friend, he ran up behind me and punched me on the back of my head."

"I very calmly asked my friend to hold my bag for me. I walked up to the kid, grabbed hold of him, tripped/threw him to the ground, punched him once in the face/eye, stood up and I walked away. I said nothing. Walked back to my friend, collected my bag and continued walking."

"I didn’t see this kid for a few days, and he unsurprisingly he left me alone after that."

Arisutea

RUN!

"Little league football - I was in 6th - brother in 4th grade - his bully in 5th. He intentionally tried to hurt my brother during practice - so I took off running - jumped in the air, went horizontal and landed my cleats in his chest. He lost his breath for a minute or so. I ran laps for many minutes. Bully no longer bothered little brother."

Sheehanigens

One Punch

I Win Take That GIF by Film RiotGiphy

"Early high school, was going between classes getting something out of my locker. He shoved my head into my locker and without hesitation I turned around and punched him square in the chest as hard as I could. That was enough to get him to stop."

Qangulous-Yahrnam

What is the stuffing the locker obsession?

It's ASSAULT!

Say Sorry

Laugh At Ha Ha GIF by filmeditorGiphy

"I saw a guy my age bullying a younger kid, so I got the entire bus to point at him at say 'bully, bully' over and over. He ended up crying."

"Problem was, my mom and his mom were friends, so my mom took me over to his house and made me apologize to him, so it wouldn't be awkward between her and his mom."

Veritas3333

The Last Day

"In high school i was bullied for a few years (mainly calling names, making 'jokes' and messing with my stuff). I used to never do anything back."

"Then at some point I got angry, turned around (he was standing behind me) and punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose."

"That was also the last day I got bullied."

"In hindsight i think i mostly got picked on by him because i never did anything back and he did not want to risk any pushback. (Who says violence never solves anything?)"

The_Upperant

The Dude

"The one that comes to mind is the one kept trying to trip me. I finally called him on his sh*t and he slapped me which set me off. I body-slammed him and jumped on him. I got called to the office with my parents, and they wanted to suspend me but every other student that witnessed it stuck up for me and said it was self-defense and I got off with in-school suspension. The dude avoided me for the rest of our time in school."

Diesel-KC

A Strong Kick

"Two guys in high school tried to do the 'tabletop' move (one gets on all fours and the other pushes you). I stepped on the hand of the guy on the ground when I stepped back. Realized what was happening. Kicked him with kind of a horse kick while still stepping on his hand, and then fastballed the 20 oz bottle of Coke I was holding at the other guy’s head as hard as I could and ran away. They were both on the ground reeling."

CheeseIsQuestionable

Let's Wrestle

Wrestle The Elite GIF by All Elite Wrestling on TNTGiphy

"Dude knocked my pizza out of my hand at lunch, so I took a running start and kicked him the gut. He got up and started to try to wrestle with me, while my friend tried break us up. All in all it lasted maybe 10 seconds, nobody hurt."

Jon__Snuh

Never touch the pizza.

Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Doug Bergum; Jared Huffman
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Dem Rep. Hilariously Trolls Trump Official For Having No Idea How Solar Power Works In Viral Clip

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was trolled by California Democratic Representative Jared Huffman after he, testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee, seemed to think solar panels are unreliable because they don't work when the sun goes down.

The sun produces heat and light through solar, or electromagnetic, radiation. Solar energy technologies capture that radiation and convert it into usable power. The two primary forms of solar technology are photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP).

Keep ReadingShow less
Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin at the star ceremony, where he is honored for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Macaulay Culkin Just Opened Up About The 'Unfinished Business' He Felt He Had With Catherine O'Hara—And We're Sobbing

More than three decades after they first starred together in Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin is opening up about the emotional bond he shared with Catherine O’Hara, and why her passing left him feeling like he “owed” her something more.

The former child star, now 45, discussed O’Hara’s recent passing with Gentleman’s Journal. O’Hara died on January 30 at age 71 from a pulmonary embolism linked to an underlying illness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jason Collins
Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images

Tributes Pour In For First Out Pro Basketball Player Jason Collins After His Tragic Death At 47

The sports world lost a legend this week. And not just any legend: one who made history.

Jason Collins was the first openly gay active NBA player and the first openly gay professional athlete in any of the four major American sports leagues when he publicly came out in April 2013.

Keep ReadingShow less
Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Stephen Colbert
CBS

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Channeled Her 'Veep' Character To Epically Roast Stephen Colbert In Send-Off For The Ages

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to air its final episode next Thursday, May 21.

The controversial cancellation will end Colbert's 11-year tenure at the late night desk, and end the Late Show franchise on CBS, which hit the airwaves in 1993 with host David Letterman—who shared his own message for the network over the cancellation.

Keep ReadingShow less
Melania Trump
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Kevin Hart Roast Writer Reveals Melania Joke That Got Cut—And It's Absolutely Savage

In an interview with Variety, writer Madison Sinclair revealed some of the jokes that got cut from Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart—including a joke about First Lady Melania Trump and MAGA comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that is as savage as it is nasty.

Hinchcliffe is best known for having called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" during a Trump rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden in October 2024, just weeks before the election.

Keep ReadingShow less