Being picked on sucks. Whether you’re a kid or an adult, there’s nothing you want more than for the torment to stop. Sometimes this means reporting the culprit to a manager or teacher, but other times, you might be motivated to do something yourself. These 50 Redditors share stories of when they were fed up and took matters into their own hands.
1. A Mechanical Solution
This kid I had known for years had constantly tormented my little brother and as a "joke", threatened us on the bus, made fun of us, mocked our parents, and because he was my classmate, he mocked me and made inappropriate comments towards me in class. In fifth grade, he was sitting next to me and picking on me quite a bit more than usual. I told him to leave me alone.
He didn't. So that’s when I got my revenge. I picked up my pencil and jabbed him in the arm as hard as I could. Now, I wasn't very strong, and it was a tiny mechanical pencil through his hoodie, so I didn't do any massive damage. But it was enough to bruise and leave a mark. It hurt badly, from what I could tell. He asked me what the heck I was doing, and I told him I'd do it again.
He only picked on me very, very occasionally from then on, and he only did it when he wasn't in close distance. I guess the lack of hesitation on my part spooked him—he was all tough until I took a step towards him from then on.
2. The Best Valentine’s Day
I was the target of basically an entire classroom full of jerks in the fifth and sixth grades, and although I never physically fought them, it got dark fast. Basically, this awful little group of kids who called themselves ‘the squad’ made it their personal mission in life to make sure mine was as miserable as possible. Taking my things, breaking my things, threatening me, and even attacking me on multiple occasions.
It got so bad that I had to be moved out of the fifth-grade class and into the sixth-grade class early but only to find out this little group had plenty of members in the sixth-grade class as well. Shortly before Valentine’s Day, everyone had to make cards for their classmates and to my surprise, I got more cards than anyone else in the freaking class.
However, inside each of these little cards was some form of “you’re the worst“ surrounded by hearts. Rather than being upset by this, I laughed so freaking hard. Not only were some of these guys stupid enough to actually write their names on the cards, but I could recognize the handwriting of all of those who didn’t and gladly wrote their names on it for them.
I then handed this big stack of cards to the teacher who proceeded to call a bunch of safeties in to pull out 90% of the freaking class! I was then told I should probably go home early so the teacher called my mom and I went to wait in the office for her to pick me up… what do I hear while waiting in the office but a bunch of these guys’ parents being called and hearing that their children were being suspended for a ridiculously long time!
3. Ending It Myself
We were playing tackle the carrier in the schoolyard. I was a fourth grader and I tackled a sixth grader, who got mad and started to kick me. I let it happen a few times, and a teacher was literally looking right at me. After about the fourth time, I grabbed his leg and lifted. He fell backward, then I punched him in the face twice. He only got a bloody nose and shattered pride.
We each got suspended for three days. My mom was furious at the school after they told the story to her. Then when she watched the footage, she said something that put the principal in his place. She asked me in front of him if there was a new video game I wanted. The principal was mad but my mom said "I never teach my boys to start anything. But when the teacher refused to end it, he did by defending himself". It was the best three-day weekend ever.
4. Written Off
In my secondary school, when you were about to leave, you'd wear your school uniform shirt on the last day and people would sign it for you. There was also an option to wear your own clothes for the last few days. So, this guy who was leaving came decked out in the best of 1980s sports fashion, wielding a permanent marker, and instead of signing the shirts of leavers, he went around scribbling on the shirts of kids who were younger.
Now bear in mind we were pretty poor, and if I came home with my uniform in a mess, I'd get grief because we couldn't afford to replace it. He grabbed me and scribbled all over my shirt and somehow, using as yet-unknown powers, I grabbed the marker off him and managed to scribble not only all over his Sergio windbreaker but all over his face and neck. He punched me, but it was worth it.
5. The Smell Of Trash
A former man-child neighbor had issues understanding that it wasn't okay to throw his garbage in my yard or let his friends dump trash at my house. When the authorities didn't do anything about numerous calls, I started bagging the garbage and throwing it on his porch. What he did next was seriously unhinged. He escalated to putting rat poison in hot dogs and throwing them to my German Shepherd mix.
I saw her convulsing, and found three packages worth of hot dogs studded with pellets right along the fence. She pulled through, no worse for wear, but the authorities said I couldn't prove who did it. The next time he threw garbage in my yard, which usually contained the guts and waste from his hunting and fishing, I gathered fish guts into a bag and waited until he left.
I put the guts in the rafters of his porch, under the hedges in his yard, and finally inside his air conditioner unit. About three days later, he had all the doors and windows open. The following week he was having the carpet replaced throughout the house. Eventually, the guts rotted away and the smell faded, but I think he knew I did it because I never found trash in my yard again.
Do not mess with my dogs.
6. Announcing My Presence
At our elementary school, we had a closed-circuit TV network. The principal would use it to give morning announcements every day. Two kids would be chosen every week to host the announcements, read a few things, and then turn the broadcast over to the principal. A friend and I were chosen to be the two kids for one week when I was in the 6th grade. It was actually really fun to do.
However, three punk kids at the school decided they didn't like me; I can only assume they saw me on the announcements, because I'd never met them before. They'd roam the school in a pack; if they saw me, they'd harass me verbally and physically. And, of course, the teachers would do nothing. One day at lunch, they found me as I sat eating with my friends. They surrounded me and began messing with me.
Finally, I turned around and grabbed one of them by the throat with both of my hands. He started punching me in the head, but I didn't let go. Finally, I pushed him away. The three jerks wandered off. I thought that'd be the end of it, but, later that week, I got called into the principal's office. They had told him that I'd vandalized a restroom in the school by graffiti-ing and urinating on the walls.
I'd been playing basketball with my friends, so I had an alibi. But it freaked me out that these guys were trying to find other ways to get to me, now that they knew I'd fight back physically. I still had to stay on alert for them until they all got expelled from school a few years later.
7. Here’s Your Fight!
For some reason, this kid had it in his head that he could beat me up. I’ve no idea why, or where his assumption came from but he wanted a fight with me to prove he could. I couldn’t care less if he could or couldn’t. It simply didn’t interest me. For a week or more, he would goad me on the school bus with things like “who do you think would win in a fight”?
I was having none of it, I wasn’t interested in fighting anyone and I didn’t care what he or anyone else thought on the matter. He squared up to me several times off the bus trying to get me to fight with him and I just kept telling him to leave me alone and kept walking away. After several days of this and him getting nowhere, as I was walking away chatting with my friend, he ran up behind me and hit me on the back of my head. That was when I snapped.
I very calmly asked my friend to hold my bag for me. I walked up to the kid, grabbed hold of him, threw him to the ground, boxed him in the eye, then stood up and walked away. I said nothing. Walked back to my friend, collected my bag, and continued walking. I didn’t see this kid for a few days, and unsurprisingly, he left me alone after that.
8. The Hair Harrier
When I was about seven years old, there was a girl on the bus who would pull my hair and pick on me to and from school. I would come home crying. My parents asked the driver to move our assigned seating but they refused. My dad asked me how I could fix the problem. I responded: "How can I do anything if I'm not allowed to hit"?
Dad said: “You're not allowed to hit, but you're allowed to not get hit”. He explained what I should do and I did it. When the girl sat next to me, I should put my back against the wall, my feet on her thigh, and slide her off the seat. She fell, cried, I got in trouble and the assigned seating was moved. Problem solved.
9. Locker Room Row
in high school freshman year, I had PE. I was the tall skinny kid, so of course I was targeted regularly. The way the lockers were situated was a top row of lockers and a bottom row of lockers in the locker room. My locker was on the bottom row. A kid near my locker would constantly kick my locker closed. It was a combo locker, so you’d have to input the combo again if it closed all the way to reopen it. It was very annoying.
After weeks of it, and telling him to knock it off multiple times, I had had enough. I went into the class that day with the mindset that if he does it again then I’ll hit him. I was in for a surprise. We dressed for PE and surprisingly nothing. I was tense the whole time because I was expecting something to happen.
It wasn’t until after class when we were changing back into regular clothes that he did it again. I opened my locker again, grabbed my backpack, and swung it as hard as I could. I hit him on the side of the head with about three classes worth of textbooks in my backpack. He landed on the floor and put his hands up in front of his face. I remember being so heated in the moment that I almost started crying. The whole class started yelling “fight”! Which of course caused the teacher to show up. We both ended up in the office.
We both were suspended for three days. My dad asked me why I did it, so I explained to him the whole situation and he didn’t punish me. He said as long as I wasn’t the instigator, I was fine. Never had any problems with him once I came back. They did move us apart in the locker room though.
10. My Breaking Point
In high school I was harassed for a few years, mainly by calling names, making “jokes” and messing with my stuff. I used to never do anything back. Then at some point, I got angry, turned around, and punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. That was also the last day it happened. In hindsight, I think I mostly got picked on by him because I never did anything back and he did not want to risk any pushback.
11. Calling Names
I saw a guy my age being mean to a younger kid, so I got the entire bus to point at him at say "meanie, meanie" over and over. I ended up stopping him, and he ended up crying. There was just one problem. My mom and his mom were good friends, so my mom took me over to his house and made me apologize to him, so it wouldn't be awkward between her and his mom...
12. Round And Around
I was in 4th grade and had been harassed by a kid named Rocky, who was in 6th grade. Anyway, he would trip me, knock books out of my hands, punch me, etc. One day out on the playground, he pushed me into the merry-go-round while it was spinning, I was rolled around inside it while people were trying to stop it. The whole time he's laughing at me.
I get pulled out and I'm scraped up pretty good, so I get taken to the office to get patched up. The teachers ask what happened, I told them I fell. I went back outside and saw him standing there with his buddies. I ran as fast as I could toward him and punched him as hard as I could in the face, broke his nose, and just stood there looking at him ready to fight. His buddies told him to leave me alone and I never got picked on again at school.
13. Sticking Up
This one jerk kept trying to trip me. I finally called him out and he hit me—which set me off. I body-slammed him and jumped on him. I beat the heck out of him and he had to be carried to the nurse. I got called to the office with my parents and they wanted to suspend me, but every other student that witnessed it stuck up for me and said it was self-defense. I got off with in-school suspension. The dude avoided me for the rest of our time in school.
14. Not Just A Tattletale
This group of guys kept picking on me for weeks and were always semi-physical; knocking things out of my hands and shoving me into lockers. I tried to get teachers to stop it—their reaction was brutal. They just told me to stop being a "tattletale". I went home crying as I had a bad day on top of all that harassment and my dad asked what was wrong.
I told him and he said, "son I don't believe in violence being the first resort but I believe it has gotten to your last resort, tell them you'll hit back if they do it again. I won't be upset". So, the next day the same thing happened again and I simply said "do it again and I'll kick your butt". They all just laughed and the biggest one in the group hit me across the head so hard my ear was ringing. They continued to laugh.
So, I turned around and gave him an uppercut right to the jaw. The kid had zero time to react since he thought I was bluffing and I knocked some of his braces loose. Of course, a teacher saw the whole thing and decided to intervene as soon as the kid was bawling on the ground. I got suspended for a month but my dad just told me he was proud of me for sticking up for myself. Didn't have to put up with that for the rest of high school after that.
15. Stopping The Grossness
There was a kid named Matt in my school who, in eighth grade, had developed a rating system for the girls based on the size of their chests and kept getting away with saying gross things to them. He had been reported to the guidance counselor and faculty repeatedly, but they kept saying "We can't do anything about it if we don't personally see it happening", which is like—do you think he's stupid enough to do it in front of you?
He also kept calling me Mimi, after The Drew Carey Show character. I was getting sick of it after a few months and fruitlessly talking to the guidance counselor about that, as well. I finally realized that none of the adults were going to do anything about it. One day at lunch, he called me Mimi, and I turned around and told him, "If you call me that again, you're not going to like my reaction. I don't know what I'm going to do, but you're not going to like it".
Which was true, I just figured I'd react in the moment. Thirty minutes later he called me Mimi in the hallway and I turned around and gave him a big, open-palm roundhouse bash across his face. He was completely taken aback. All I had to say was, "I told you that you weren't going to like it". I got suspended for a week. My parents were furious at me.
However, Matt never harassed anyone again. He was totally polite from that day forward. I don't generally advocate for fighting back, but I still feel like it was a proportional response to months and months of gross behavior on his part, especially in the absence of adults who were willing to hold him accountable. I told the administration and my parents as much when I received my suspension.
16. The Mean Girl
I grew up in a small town. We had one girl everyone thought was "the prettiest girl in the whole wide school"—but she had a serious dark side. She was a mean, petty girl. Truly awful. For example, my cat passed when I was in 5th grade. She sat behind me muttering about how funny it was that my cat was gone, that he was a stupid cat, that he wasn’t here anymore because my mom was too poor to take him to the vet, and urging me to cry.
"Are you gonna cry? Are you gonna cry about it? Like a big baby? Big baby cry over your stupid cat? Everyone's gonna see you cry. You're about to cry aren't you". And so on. This wasn't even the meanest thing she did. And she was mean to everyone. One day in 6th grade, I'd had enough. She didn't even do anything truly awful I just decided to do something about her.
I took one of my mom's little index cards and meticulously wrote "I STUFF MY BRA" in big bold letters. I stuffed that and a little gold safety pin in my jacket pocket. The next day I carefully affixed this to the back of her pink Members Only jacket just before the first bell rang. She walked around with this note on all day, confused as to why people were laughing at her.
She screamed and screamed when she found it. And she cried. Everyone saw her cry.
17. Annoying Little Kid...
There was a kid five years or so younger than me who insisted, out of the blue, on trying to trip me, humiliate me, and so on. I was a lot bigger than him. This had gone on for months, and I never responded beyond telling him to stop. And then one day he and I were alone in the locker room when he started picking on me. I grabbed him, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him into the wall behind him.
I told him that unless he stopped immediately, he wasn't going to like what happened next time. He said OK and never bothered me again.
18. She Doesn’t Mess Around
In elementary and middle school, I would sometimes get fed up and grapple with people who messed with me. I never threw a punch, but I’d just wrestle and pin them down to make a point. By the time I entered high school, I had developed a piercing glare that kept people from getting close. My older sister, on the other hand...
One time she caught the class ruffian from my grade harassing my best friend after school, so she slugged him in the face and broke his nose before dragging his bleeding butt into the principal's office. Obviously, they weren't happy with her methods, so she was suspended for a day or two, but that kid was a known troublemaker and that was the last straw to getting him expelled.
19. How You’re Supposed To Do It
My friend was teased constantly by this kid at school. And even though we told teachers and the principal about it, it was just blown off as "oh he was just playing" or at worst the kid had to give some insincere apology. One day my friend had enough and punched the kid, and all the adults wanted to step in going "Why did you do that", "you're not supposed to solve your problems with violence", and "you should have come to us first".
In the end, they both got a week's suspension because of it.
20. Claws Like A Cat
A new kid moved to town, started stuff with everyone, then he got to me. We were fighting and I easily knocked him down and was like “ok, this is enough” and started to walk only for him to get me from behind and then claw my neck. Needless to say, I lost it and beat the heck out of him. He and his mom tried to get me in trouble, but I had a trick up my sleeve. As soon as I showed my neck, I walked scot-free while he got suspended for a week.
He didn't learn his lesson and tried to go after one of my friends after.
21. Out Of The Fry Pan
I was working at my university in the Division of Student Life as a GA, and had worked myself into a great position where people trusted me and relied on my advice. One night at a big party at a local university bar, I had the craving for a smoke. I asked this group of girls if they had one, and being one to not bum straight up, I offered a coupon I had for free McDonald's fries if someone would give me one.
One of the cuter girls there with a pink stripe in her hair said yes, pulled out her cigs, and I gave her the coupon. She then put her cigs back in her pocket and told me to "get out" after taking my fry coupon. I was furious at this point and tried reasoning with her. She then called over a couple of guy friends and said that I was falsely accusing her of taking from me, and her friends all backed her up.
She looked me in the eyes and said "you shouldn't be so trusting". Fast forward to Monday—we had job interviews for the division and I happened to be passing through replacing a computer. I also happened to see the same pink-stripe-in-hair individual that had taken the McDonald's coupon from me the week before in line.
I went to the person conducting the interviews and told him that she was a thief and a liar. On my way out, I smiled and waved. She didn't recognize me. She didn't get the job, and the interviewer thanked me for my contribution to the interview process.
22. Not The Beard!
I had a dude in school that was a real jerk to everyone except his "crew”, which consisted of people with intelligence rivaling wet rocks. I started growing a beard in high school, and he happened to be in front of me in line for food. He turned to me and said "I'm gonna touch your beard". and he reached for it. I responded with, "no, you won't". He didn't listen.
I smacked him the moment he touched me, and he started crying in front of a bunch of people. I didn't hear about him messing with anyone since.
23. The Principal’s Pet
The jerk was a family friend of the principal. My parents complained, but the principal said they weren't responsible if it didn't happen on school grounds. It continued until one day he wanted to make a spectacle of it. He thought he'd win but I had enough and broke his nose in the fight and left him bleeding everywhere. My parents got a call that night from the furious principal.
My mom’s answer was legendary. She explained it wasn't on school property, so politely do not disturb her at home for matters she wasn't involved with. Things went cool until late grade 6, and the same kid had been getting mouthier and pushier with me, even at school. The principal even smugly made sure we knew she wouldn't interfere. I was walking home the one day and the kid didn't take the usual turn to his house, so I knew something was up.
He tried to roll up on me, tackled me, and started punching. I grabbed his shirt, ripped the collar down the front, and then blasted him hard in the nose again when he was stunned. When the principal called, my mom just said to leave her kids alone and she'd call the authorities if the jerk came near us again. I found out later the kid was having trouble at home, so I empathize a bit, but kids like this need to find another outlet.
24. Call My Bluff
It was 1995 when I was in high school. I was outside with my friends. We were a big gang, but we were potheads and punks, not known to cause trouble. I apparently annoyed someone, and he went to get the big guy of the school with all his followers. The ruffian came up to me with about six or seven other guys looking for a fight.
I stood in front of them alone while my friends were sitting in the corner, not even noticing the interaction. I knew I'd get my butt kicked big time and my friends would be pretty much useless. Half were girls and only one or two would have the heart to fight. So I decided to bluff it out. I gave my best psychotic smile and told them: "This is going to be fun". and assumed a fighting stance.
Anyway, the leader found a stupid excuse to back out of it and they all left and nobody ever messed with me or my friends. These guys are not used to someone fighting back, especially when outnumbered. I got lucky he was a coward.
25. I Have A Black Belt!
It was probably 5th grade; his name was Tyler W. Tyler was a master black belt and all-around nasty. I was a goofy awkward giant that definitely didn't fit into the cool Christian kid club. The pastor’s kid Cameron and Tyler were especially cruel when paired up against me. Usual stuff happened, like telling the parents and telling the staff. The church is not believing their saintly boys could be mean.
Well, one of my friends, Steve, was having a birthday party and Tyler called me out to fight at the party. I can still remember the anticipation all week, building and building into something wonderful. When Steve got his presents and the candles were blown out, we all disappeared outside for the main event. I remember Tyler still had some pretty cocky words saying he was going to beat my fat butt or something like that.
Well, there was something I didn’t know. It turns out Tyler wasn't a black belt. I got on top of that kid and beat the holy heck out of him until his face started turning blue. It was a very important life lesson for me that these people should be dealt with severely. So, then the aftermath is Tyler's parents want to sue me and my parents for beating their little angel. The church/school wants to suspend me for something that didn't even happen at school.
However, these people taught me how to stand up for myself and that's it because no one else was going to.
26. Hats Off To You
We had assigned seats on the bus and I was next to this awful kid, unfortunately. He threw my hat out the window on the highway. Before we got on the bus at the end of the day, he was bragging to everyone about how funny it was when he tossed my hat. I lost it and beat him down. Kind of like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. He was a bit bloodied. He wouldn’t look me in the eye after that all the way through high school.
27. One Hit Too Many
I was harassed by this group of girls, and I would call their leader Karen. This girl would do all kinds of things from pulling my hair to tripping me or verbally teasing me. I tolerated all of it until the day Karen hit me hard across the face. Something came over me I don't know what happened to my timid self but I pounced on her, scratching, and punching her, I could feel my blood boil like literally and my vision was covered with black spots.
Well at the end of the day, she started crying and was covered with scratches and I had a panic attack immediately afterward. Nobody got punished but she never crossed my path again. All this happened in second grade.
28. So What’s Ok?
I wouldn't say I took revenge, I just finally snapped and started repeatedly punching him. In the middle of math class. The teacher took me out of the class and I figured that I was doomed and on my way to see the headmaster. The teacher said she knew he was mean, but hitting people in her class was not OK and never to do it again. Then she placed him in detention.
The kid gave some kind of begrudging apology the next day and said he respected me for finally standing up for myself. Well, thanks, I guess? He never bothered me again anyway.
29. Giving Her A Hand
I had a friend who had a bully. He had a locker above my friend and would intentionally drop books on her head, push her around, insult her throughout the year, and we all had a class together where he was generally a jerk to anyone that he could. Before class started and anyone else was in class yet, the teacher had to step out for a bit, and it was just us three in the room.
My friend was and still is very tiny but that day, it didn't matter. She snapped and had enough of his teasing and went on the attack. I don't think she could have done much damage on her own, but I stepped in. Puberty was swift for me and I was one of the largest kids in school; by 5th grade, I was already the size of an adult woman.
I pinned him to the wall and let my friend beat on him. He didn't speak to either of us after that, and we never got into any trouble. I don't think he wanted to tell anyone that he got beat up by a couple of girls.
30. Wrestling Revenge
I was teased heavily in middle school. I wrestled in high school. At a competition, I found I had to wrestle Josh. He was one of those guys from middle school, and I knew I could pin him. Told my coach about him, and my goal wasn't to pin him, but to hurt him as long as possible. When the wrestling match starts, I do every move I can think of that could hurt.
I didn't try to get him on his back, just kept "trying" to jack up his arms and shoulders. Took a couple of shots and checked his crotch with my shoulder since he wasn't wearing a cup. I did the full six minutes and won twelve-to-one on points. He cried. The reaction was unforgettable. My entire team went ballistic with cheers. The coach had told them what he used to do to me and they were rooting for me so hard. I felt like the king of the world.
I walked off to my team. He limped off to the athletic trainer.
31. The Crowd Goes Wild!
My friend was the only Asian-looking girl in the area. This one little idiot had learned some vile names and delighted in calling her them until she cried. He always did it at the bus stop because we couldn't walk away. I got angry, but she always told me not to do anything because she was worried about it escalating. I promised not to do anything that would make it worse.
I like loopholes. I'm also from what some would call an aggressive family. We've play-fought with each other for as long as I can remember, so the desire to beat the heck out of him was strong. One time, he was singing a song that basically was just the P word to a tune with a few uninventive insults thrown in that didn't scan. He was playing this up particularly because there was a crowd of largely disinterested older kids also waiting for the bus.
I figured a way to ensure it wouldn't get worse. I punched him hard in the nose. No warning, just turned round and lamped him. Now I was a big girl even at 7, so when I put my full force behind the punch, it was nasty. I even hurt my hand because I was a dumb kid who didn't know how to punch properly. He staggered back and started crying as his nose began to bleed.
The disinterested crowd noted that he'd been made to cry by a girl, who ripped into him. He ran away, they continued laughing, me and my mate eventually caught our bus, and he left us alone forever more. I didn't get into trouble because he had no idea where I lived and rumor had it his dad was angrier that he'd not fought back.
32. The First Win
I used to have a horrible little nasty jerk that would sit behind me on the bus home from school every day. He would constantly hit my head from behind and generally just get off from whacking me. One day I broke as he was getting off the bus and continued to hit me on his way out for fun. I started wailing on him and drove my foot with all my strength at his balls. Happy to say I really hurt him and he was in major, major pain.
He gave me a bit of mouth afterward but never bothered me again. One of the most satisfying moments of my life. He's a huge loser now, so I won twice!!
33. So Deserved
When I was in 5th grade, a kid decided that he was going to violently tousle my hair every chance he got, all day. It got old very quickly, and I repeatedly told him to stop. He didn’t, of course. At recess, I was sitting on the ground talking to my friends, when I saw him running up behind me from the corner of my eye. I spun around, grapevined his leg, and sank my teeth into his calf.
I didn’t draw blood, but definitely left tooth impressions and there was a lot of high-pitched screaming. He tried to report me for attacking him, but the recess supervisor told him that he’d been watching him torment me for an hour so he couldn’t complain. Don’t ask me why an adult observed active bullying for an hour and just allowed it to play out.
34. Poke. Poke.
7-year-old me spent almost all of my childhood at our cabin, helping out my grandparents with firewood, fishing, carrying water and all that. If I had to be with society, I was hanging around horses. Shoveling manure and all those fun stables activities. Once I had to start school, I started sports on top of all that. During after-school activity, this kid used to follow me. He was 10 years old, just constantly poking me.
The whole two hours I had to spend there, he was near me, poking. We tried to get the teachers and everyone to make the kid stop. No one could really do anything; he'd always come back and just keep poking me. After three weeks of it, I finally just turned around and knocked his lights out. The poking stopped.
35. Keeping Composed
First couple of years of high school, this kid just kept harassing me. Senior year comes around and he joins the wrestling team. I beat him all day even though he was in a heavier weight class and was going to the states. I would put his chest in a leg scissor and just squeeze while driving his back into the mat. Over and over for about two hours, I did this to him. It was a little revenge but I also wanted him to be ready for the states.
After practice he decided to punch me in the face, splitting my brow. My reaction made me a legend. I just stood there and said, "Are you done"? Blood poured down my face. After the rest of the team booted him out of the locker room, they all cheered and said that was the greatest thing they have ever seen. Earned a lot of respect from the rest of the team by not punching back. Then, I also got his spot at states and took 5th place.
36. Oops, My Bad
I was a lonely freshman walking to class, and an upperclassman would push his friend into me so that I would drop my books. This happened several times that year from the same person. One day, I got my revenge when that guy was walking alone and I asked my friend to push me into him. I slammed him so hard into the lockers that he grabbed his elbow in agony.
He was on the baseball team and probably needed that elbow.
37. Evading Blows
When I was in second grade, there were two fourth graders who decided one week to just make me their target. I didn’t know them, live near them, or have any contact with them previously that I knew of. They tried several times to get me cornered and alone, or would just call me random names and yell mean stuff. After several days of this on the playground after lunches, they finally got me alone when I went to get a drink of water.
One of them grabbed me from behind and pinned my arms with the obvious intention of the other one hitting me while I was defenseless. Well, he wasn’t expecting what I had up my sleeve. He tried probably 5-6 times, but every time he would swing, I turned my body just enough that he ended up hitting his friend instead. The first one was really just pure survival instinct, but I remember hearing the exhale of air when the first one landed and realizing that was my only chance.
They were both a lot bigger and stronger and I was not getting out of that arm hold on my own. I guess the one hitting was getting annoyed, because the last one was at head level. His forearm actually did hit me in the head, and it hurt, but his fist connected with his friend’s face hard enough to finally knock him off me. That was it. They didn’t say another word. They just stepped away, turned and walked off. I never saw them again.
38. A Higher Station
In high school, I had a verbal bully. He never got physical, but I would always hear about how fat I was or what I was reading. He lived a few streets down and his parents knew he did it; they just didn't care. So, in my junior year, a new high school opened and I transferred over. He stayed at the old school. I help set up all the new computers and networks at the new school and graduate.
The school then hires me as a computer tech, which was great because it was awesome pay for an 18-year-old! So, my first year as a computer tech—and who do I see?!? That's right! He did something in his senior year at my old school that got him kicked out and had to repeat his junior year. So, he was now a year behind me. I am walking through the hallways with an Assistant Principal talking about what computers I was going to move, etc.
This dude just sees me and just starts up again like no time had passed. I just stare at him and then at the AP. He lays into the guy about showing proper respect for the faculty and staff while he just has this dumbfounded look on his face. It was amazing!
39. Right In The Nuts
A kid in my high school randomly sacked me one day for absolutely no reason in between classes. He hit me hard enough that I was sweating and experiencing radiating pain in my upper abdomen for the rest of the afternoon. I had no personal history with this kid prior to that day, but he had a reputation for randomly hitting other kids in the balls thinking it was a big joke.
I waited for him in the hallway the next day, pencil case in hand. As he walked past me, I whirled my hand around, holding the pencil case like a softball pitcher. Luckily for him, I paused my swing millimeters from his crotch, looked him in the eye, and said, “if you hit me or any other kid in the balls again, I’ll drop you next time”.
To my knowledge, he never did it again and he wasn’t physically hurt.
40. Tooting Your Own Horn
There was a boy who picked on pretty much every girl in his grade when we were in grade 7. He and his friends started getting fairly inappropriate and started grabbing at girls in the hallway between classes. No one ever stood up to him because he was the very tall "cool" athletic popular kid, and pretty much everyone was intimidated by him.
I played trumpet in band class, and I was the only girl who did, in a big group of boys including him, so he picked on me a lot. Calling me "lesbian" simply because I played trumpet instead of flute or clarinet. I wasn't even a tomboy; I was a pretty feminine girl so he was really reaching. One day he came up behind me in the hallway after school was out, and of course, he grabbed me sort of under my butt so hard that it really hurt.
Luckily, I was carrying my trumpet case, so I spun around and smashed him in the balls with it. He crumpled down to the ground with tears in his eyes and never bothered me again after that day.
41. A Different Kind Of Revenge
I got teased by this girl in high school for being fat, and lost 100 pounds after I graduated. I looked completely different. Even some family who didn't see me during the process didn't recognize me. I ran into this girl again two years after high school at Starbucks. She started a conversation with me as we were stuck at the same table together in a busy Starbucks.
We talked, and a week later we slept together. And then I added her on Facebook to show her who I was. She slept with the fat kid she grew up making fun of! Not your traditional revenge. But hey, humiliating my old bully like that is worth something right?
42. A Lot Stronger
I was teased in middle school for two out of the three years I was there. I was a quiet, chubby kid so it makes sense I got targeted. Final year of middle school, I ended up with a different group for classes, made friends, was more active, and hormones were doing their thing. After the final day of middle school, I ran into the guy from the years prior.
He tried to get right into his old tricks but I was having none of that. I punched him square in the nose and based on the blood coming out, I think I broke it. I then told him if I ever saw him again, I would rip his face off and feed it to him. I left while keeping an eye on him and never saw him again.
43. Family Matters
My aunt is only four years older than me. She's one of those "change of life" babies. We went to a small grammar school, and somehow kids found out that we were aunt and niece. I was in the 5th grade; she was in high school at the time. Well, there was this big goofy kid, Brian, who wore his Gretzky jersey literally every day and never washed it. Gross.
He was always talking about my grandmother sleeping with people and having a baby because she's old. Stupid stuff like that. So one day, I had it. He was yapping like usual in class. I got up, walked across the room, and hit him as hard as I could with the palm of my hand. His coke bottle glasses flew across the room. He had my handprint on his face for a couple of days. Then the tables turned. He was the boy who got hit by a girl!
44. Trading Blows
I was maybe 15 at the time, and this guy would constantly pester me. Pretty harmless stuff like screaming or little annoyances to bother me. About 10 days after this all started, I was heading toward the bus when the guy smacks me in the back of the head. I pushed him off me and then punched him in the mouth. He ran off and I did too.
I guess someone reported what happened because the next morning we were called into the principal's office. I was given a stern talking to and the other guy was suspended
45. A Sandwich Solution
A big, tall, muscular girl that I knew my entire life decided to start picking on me in high school. 10th grade. She wasn't physical with me, but would say really mean stuff to me and call me names. I told my mom about it, who spoke to our English teacher. The teacher kept an eye out and even made her stay after class one day because she caught her calling me names and being a jerk.
Teachers and parents can only do so much, and I knew I'd have to say something to her. One day, she approached me and a friend in the cafeteria. I forget what she called my friend, but it seriously ticked me off. I jumped up and shouted, "leave her alone"! And I took my sandwich and threw it at her face. She got mustard all over her hair and looked quite shocked.
My mom was so happy when I told her about it. That was luckily all it took, she left me alone after that. I didn't hurt her physically, maybe just hurt her ego.
46. Fight Club
In my school, you had to fight. If you were teased, there was only one way out: to square up. Even if you lost, typical mean kids don't like to fight confrontations, so they never bother you again; or if they do, you fight again. Fights were a monthly and even weekly occurrence, so many boys attended martial arts schools. That said, in our school, there were rarely repercussions for fights, so nobody ever got in serious trouble.
47. What’s In There?!
When I was in 5th grade, there was this one time our teacher left the class with a worksheet to do and took off for who knows where. Anyway, there I was, trying to finish my worksheet so I could get back to reading the book I had stashed in my desk. Enter one of the class pests. He wasn't doing his work. He was just trying to irritate me.
After a few minutes of this, I got annoyed and swatted him over the head with my purse, forgetting I had a travel-sized can of Aquanet hairspray in there for hair emergencies. He ended up going to the nurse, because he had a headache. He didn't tell the teacher why he had a headache, just that he did. I was mad because his stupid head dented my can of hairspray.
48. Soda Surprise
In the third grade, there was a kid that always used to take my soda from me at lunch. He would chug the soda really fast and I was pretty passive back in the day, so he was always able to get away with it. One day the kid took my soda and lunch, drank the soda, and smooshed the rest. I went home that day thinking of ways I could get him to stop.
I came up with a seriously devious plan. What I ended up doing was taking a can of soda from the fridge and puncturing a tiny hole in the bottom. Slowly, I let all the soda drip into a cup so I could drink it, and then stuck the empty can in a bowl that was soaking in the sink. If I recall the bowl was used to make peanut butter cookies, so it had soap and some greasy peanut water in it.
Once the can was full like a regular soda can, I cleaned it off and put just a drip of super glue over the hole. Well, that next day, the kid grabbed my drink like usual. He chugged the soda like usual... Then proceeded to vomit all over himself. It was glorious. That, my friends, was the last taken soda.
49. The Real Hot Stuff
As a short Asian girl, I have been teased a lot. People think I'm weak or a pushover. Well, I may not be the greatest fighter but I am by no means a pushover. I have gotten revenge on plenty of jerks, but the one I remember the most was in middle school. There was this guy, Todd, who that he was hot stuff. He was on the basketball team and was fairly attractive, and he even wore a leather jacket because he thought he was all that.
In reality, he wasn't so much hot stuff, more like cold runny diarrhea. Anyway, he used to constantly harass me, shove me, and insult me. I just ignored it because I just didn't care. But all my friends thought he had a crush on me because "if a guy is rude to you, he must like you" and all that stupid stuff. But eventually, it starts getting creepy.
I noticed him in my peripheral vision as I'm walking home obviously trying, and failing, to hide and stalk me. Starts brushing against me more and more. I just kept ignoring him and dodging him. All the while my "friends" keep saying that they're sooooo sure that he has a crush on me. Day after day I keep making complaints to my mom and dad.
I keep getting the same response from my mom "You're a girl, just sit still, look pretty, and ignore it" and things like that. My dad says to "deal with the problem yourself". One day during lunch he just straight up grabbed me. Ran behind me and started playing with my chest. All sorts of "Oooooo's" and giggles from the cafeteria. Thing is, the teachers are outside dealing with a kid who just puked so none of them could help.
I go from shocked to furious as I realize he's still messing with me. So, I rip his hands off my chest, get up, and punch him square in the nose. Then, after he falls down, I give him a good stomp on the nuts. Hard. Yeah, he was in a lot of pain. I get called into the principal's office, who calls my dad. Without even listening to the principal, he asks me what happened.
I explain that I was grabbed and I dealt with the problem by punching him in the face and stomping on him. Dad has the proudest grin and pats my shoulder while fighting the principal because this principal wanted to expel me. I end up not getting punished, and I got ice cream too!
50. An Equal Reaction
When I was just a little kid, around five years old, my cousin used to harass me. That day, I was wearing a nice dress and my mom told me not to get it dirty. Well, I was playing with a kite outside when he pushed me over into a puddle of mud. I got in a lot of trouble, but my mom told me to do it back next time. Unfortunately, the next time he bothered me was near some stairs.
I pushed him, and he fell all the way to the bottom. He was fine, and never bothered me again. My mom also whispered in my ear, "Good job".
Sources: Reddit,
