> Smile, make yourself small and maybe they go away. This is awful advice. The article itself is about a series of events where implied refusals culminated ov

> Smile, make yourself small and maybe they go away. This is awful advice. The article itself is about a series of events where implied refusals culminated over time. An early civilised but clear decline is safer and more effective. I've done what you advise in my early teens in a nexus of bullying (and more) situations and all I've got has been more suffering. You'd rather get beaten up than having such an experience, believe me.