1) Teach him to laugh at himself, to dismiss bullies words. Tough, but this is huge. Throughout our lives we will have those that don’t like us, that bad mouth us. So what? It cannot be stopped. I have no control over them, only how I react. Laugh at yourself, don’t take yourself too seriously. Toughest lesson I had growing up as a bullied kid. Sticks and stones... remember that? Instead, nowadays, we teach kids that words do hurt, really bad. It’s a disservice to these youth. Words only hurt if you decide to allow them to hurt. Shrug it off. Better yet, laugh it off. Why would you take anything they say seriously? They’re trying to hurt you. Dismiss it. Ignore it. Those words have no value whatsoever, do not invest any emotion in their words.

2) Shock and awe. If he can’t do number one, then you must force the bully to shut up. How? Have your son walk up behind his biggest nemesis and sucker punch the fool so hard that it knocks him down. I’d use a big book. Then jump on top of him and just keep hitting the bully until teachers pull your kid off. Make the bully think long and hard before he ever teases your kid again. It needs to be brutal. Bullies will respond to physical force and intimidation, it’s how they think. He’ll be suspended for a day or two, and it’ll be the best thing he ever did.

Bottom line: teach him to deal with his own problems. He’s just a few years away from being on his own. He needs coping skills now.