Yeah but no.
Because at the end even if the bullied kids defends itself the bully still ultimately not learning not to do so.
Also stop with that weak "is needed to toughen up kids" argument, it's not proven at all.
Good parents should teach their kids empathy and communication over "fighting back" because it can lead to a vicious circle and could escalate towards something worse happening.
We're supposed to be civilised not animals. We shouldn't lower ourselves to their level either.
PS: that last sentence about "tolerating the world as it is" can be quite a problem and won't help.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -Edmund Burke
Sociopaths never learn and water is wet, i'm aware that getting rid of bullies are a lost cause, your not gonna get rid of bullying unless you get rid of schools (not even joking here), my point was, without difficulty in your life, you will become unable to survive in the real world.
"Is needed to toughen up kids argument" it actually is proven, just not from this method, in the past before our modern day kids either got stronger or died in most cases, i'd rather not go back to that myself so i see this as our best solution to avoid that, if you've got a better solution i'm all ears.
Yeah...100% disagree here, seen plenty of parents teach their kids to not fight back and to "talk it out" and teen suicide and murder rates have only went up, i agree kids need to be taught empathy and avoid violence whenever possible, but they should NOT be taught to be a doormat, you cannot avoid conflict in life and live a normal life, this is something people in the modern day have forgotten that our ancestors HAD to learn to survive and become civilized.
We ARE more civilized than animals, which is why our history is FAR more brutal and violent than any animal species, civilization does not mean peaceful, it means more organized, this is the fundamental belief behind the "dark forest" theory of cosmology, that alien species not only war, but kill any species that get's too advanced.
The edmund burke quote is pretty funny to use in your comment, as what edmund burke was saying was that people need to fight back against evil, not tolerate it, which was the fundamental point of my statement.