I'm no fan of violence. But I cannot say this bully did not have it coming.

[Scootaloo]

40. You and I must have experienced extremely different worlds of bullying, then

My experience was that "warding off" only results in a momentary respite. They eventually decide you're all talk, just a bitch who isn't going to do anything anyway, and they go back to it. What then? Try the same thing? Nope, they think you're a chump.

Bullies are people who think violence is funny, and that they are invincible. The only "fix" is to give them an up-close and very personal demonstration that neither of those assumptions are even close to being true. Even that is usually only a partial fix - they'll find new victims.

I believe we have an ethical obligation to protect other people when we can, how we can. I also understand that while there are objectively "more appropriate" methods of handling a situation, at the very moment objectivity doesn't exist - you act. Later you can go "well, I could have done something else," but right at that moment, you move on impulse to protect the other person getting their ass beat. And yes, that's okay.