[AlaninCarlisle]

I was fortunate in one sense insomuch that I was born during the war and due to the early death of my mother I was brought up surrounded by ex-servicemen, both WW1 and WW2 who taught me how to toughen up and handle bullies, usually by striking the first punch.
Listening to a close relative with a 12 year-old son, bullying is much changed, indulged in by girls and boys and frequently involves postings on social media. The lad himself is being bullied this way and I'm completely at a loss as to sensible advice to give her. Anyone else come across this? Any advice you can share?

[Goosegirl]

Having been sort of bullied at school (not like it is now) and also bullied in a different way at work (I could handle that now big time), the thing is that bullies are very insecure people who lack self-esteem so much that they need to diss other people to make them big in the eyes of their so-called peers. How sad is that. To retaliate against them gives them more fuel. To ignore them involves a lot of work from the soul upwards and this means they need to be with people who know what they are about, care for you, then tell you which is a foundation to work from, and they are the ones to tell you that you are a good person and to stuff what some others say.   

[Growster...]

One of the oldest ways to get back at bullies, is to be funnier than the rest of them, and get more chums on your side!

Isn't this much easier on Bookface or Twatter? Just keep posting stuff to the others, leaving the fat bully out of it all, and laughing off the nasty posts he/she makes?

Gawping at mobiles is a national sport these days, so anyone can keep up the laughter, and annoy the bullies until they realise they're wasting their time! Why not get the relative and some siblings to think up some really good stuff for him to post - they'll be much better words than the bullying kids who are posting with no imagination!

(And all that's from a bloke who doesn't even do Bookface or Twatter)!

[Yorkie]

I was fortunate in one sense insomuch that I was born during the war and due to the early death of my mother I was brought up surrounded by ex-servicemen, both WW1 and WW2 who taught me how to toughen up and handle bullies, usually by striking the first punch.
Listening to a close relative with a 12 year-old son, bullying is much changed, indulged in by girls and boys and frequently involves postings on social media. The lad himself is being bullied this way and I'm completely at a loss as to sensible advice to give her. Anyone else come across this? Any advice you can share?

Bullying used to be so more straightforward in decades gone by. It was usually either physical, or verbal. When you left school on a daily basis, at least you had respite from it for the few hours at home.

The internet has massively complicated things. The bullying behaviour can get at you 24h a day, so you don't ever feel safe or away from it when at home. It doesn't matter whether you take steps to avoid it - other people will see it, and tell you about it when you are next in physical contact with them. And stuff posted online is there forever.

To be honest, I've just looked up some of the national charities who support children and/or their parents through bullying. Here are some of the links for how parents can support their children, but there are other resources on there too:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/bullying-and-cyberbullying/
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-a-z-mental-health-guide/bullying/
https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/advice-and-support/advice-parents-and-carers/how-can-i-help-my-child-if-they-are
https://www.startingwellworcs.nhs.uk/parents-bullying

There is also ChildLine for the youngster, as one of the free chat lines (spoken or written) for support
https://www.childline.org.uk/

I wish your relative and his son all the best.