Parents need to stop over-protecting their kids, then, when bullies show up in their lives, it's not like a shock or devastation
I was bullied until the age of ten, and then the bullies found out the reason why I never hit back, because it hurt like hell for them!
I remember two kids were going to put me in the toilet one day, but instead found themselves on their ass, and then running to the Office to tell on me, and when the Principal found out what they attempted to do, well he laughed and kept them after school instead...
So the moral of this is let the kid knock the bully on their ass a few times, and the bully will learn that some kids should not be messed with...
Also if I came home crying about someone whipping my ass on the streets, well I got my ass kicked by my Uncle and told to take my anger back outside and whip that bully ass...
Oh my Uncle got his ass kicked one time by me for punching me one too many times, and he learned bullying was the wrong course of action...