As an actual parent, I can certainly see both sides. I think that it is important for kids to learn to stand up to bullying, but I am talking about the old-fashioned, on-the-bus kind of bullying that is usually settled with a few haymakers. This "cyberbullying" thing is slightly different because a.) it gets out of control very fast and b.) you almost never can directly confront your "attackers". When he was younger and started taking the bus to school, some of the other parents were worried about bullying because the bus also had the high school students on it. The notion that the local HS students would be anything but nice to the kids is ludicrous, but i actually opined to the other parents that my son could "probably use a good ass-kicking". I was serious then and still believe it. Standing up to wrong helps to make men.
I taught my son that he is allowed to fight back in an actual bullying event. If he's punched, he should hit the other guy twice. Online, I am not sure what to teach him. If he's "taunted" (WTF is that really?), should I teach him how to launch a DDOS attack on the attacker?
One thing that I have taught him successfully is how to deal with online issues through humor, de-escalation and self-deprecation. It almost always works by using the weight of an opponent's attack against them; to flow through with the attack and subtly redirect the energy. He isn't perfect, but he gets the concept. It has so many lessons and parallels in the physical world also; from simple martial arts to complex military maneuvers.
Anyway, some complex questions here.
