"... personal anecdotes on this page reveal frequently stems the cycle of violence. ..." I'm really trying to look beyond the symptom and look at the root caus

"... personal anecdotes on this page reveal frequently stems the cycle of violence. ..." I'm really trying to look beyond the symptom and look at the root causes. Read the article I cited to see that this is not just a problem for the targeted individual but whole groups as well. "... Bullies thrive on the easy victim not defending yourself won't change this ..." Bullies thrive in environments where bulling is tolerated. Change the culture to make it bully-proof ~ http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201011/r671527_4889232.jpg http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201011/r671527_4889232.jpg out than just letting having to expect kids to bear the brunt of inaction. Individual action maybe warranted, it's too much of a problem for individuals. Group action is needed as well. If you think about HN for a moment advising every user to read & re-read http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html and prepare for an eventual verbal stoush. You defend yourself well using combinations of DH0 to DH6. The attacker moves to a less prepared target. Instead of relying on just individual users the HN community (users & code) fight back to enforce civility. The same ideas can be applied to bullies and targets, organisations and groups of people.