Only speaking personally.
When I was about 12, I was the constant target of three or four bullyboys at my school. I was under orders from my mother to 'Turn the other cheek' as fighting was deplorable, "Sticks and Stones" etc.,
After a while, I got to be fed up of being the butt of jokes, abuse and being the gofer, so one day when being beaten up by a 14 yo in pure anger I picked up a house-brick and sent him to hospital. His mate, who had aimed yet another kick at my stomach was surprised when I grabbed his boot and gave it a very sharp twist. We both heard the 'crack' of his ankle going and he joined his mate down the hospital.
I was flayed alive by the parents of those kids and punished by my own mother as well. I went through weeks of hell of recriminations and social cold-shouldering but I didn't care because I was flushed with pride and success, that was to be the last time anyone ever laid hand on me in anger. I learned the lesson that total brute force in retaliation can be devastating and I can honestly say I have never ever attacked anyone in my life, but even to this day, people are warned not to push their luck with me.
I would not encourage anyone to emulate what I did and I suffered in quite different ways for a long time afterwards, but I thought it was worth it for the kudos and self respect it brought over the years, but... it took a lot of conscious effort with my new reputation not to begin bullying myself. I can see why bullies are bullies! It is the first taste of power to a child and that too, is addictive. It might be the only time in their lives where they are 'the boss' and they won't give it up without a bloody nose. I would further add that in my day, we didn't involve the police in our troubles, let alone solicitors! And when a dispute was settled, it stayed settled. we never went in for counter attacks to save face later or kicking a man when he was down. It was a wholly different style of life then and we had a bit of integrity and honour and you can't count on that today.
But I learned to be confident in how I related to others, and more importantly learned that if you don't respect yourself nobody else will ever do it for you. Defeatism is endemic and just as addictive as aggression, the more anyone puts up with, the the more they are put upon, and every day that you put it off, it gets harder to break the mould and rebel, some people never manage it and some finally snap in middle age but from experience, I would say if you aim to get a reputation for looking after yourself, the younger the better! It takes less effort and you get more leeway, especially in these days of courts and compensation. More importantly, it gives yourself a longer period of self respect and confidence to be of use in character building, maybe it's worth noting that I ended up being friends with the kid whose ankle I fractured and that lasted many years.
But as with everything else in this life, it comes with risks, and everybody has to decide for themselves whether they are worth taking or not, in most cases it ends up as pure fortune anyway.
