Have you ever been a witness to someone being bullied?

I was bullied when I was very young (grades 1-3 were particularly bad) and I have witnessed bullying over and over in my life. I never let it go, ever. Even though I was picked on, I had a lot of friends because I stood up for all the other kids that were picked on, and I was strong, so when the bullying turned physical, I gave it right back and put a lot of bullies to shame. When I was 13 I was taking my little brother to the park and this one snobby ten year old was bullying some younger kids, and I told her off, telling her I would go find her mother and let her know what she was up to. She stopped. I've lectured young teenagers in the street for bullying, and as a lifeguard/swimming instructor I don't tolerate ANY of that crap on my watch. I can be pretty intimidating myself, so kids tend to listen to me. In one class, a boy started loudly making fun of another because the second boy wasn't doing front crawl properly. I looked right at him and said "Some of your skills aren't so great either; how would you like it if I made you swim in front of the whole class and pointed out every mistake you made? We're all here to learn, and nobody's perfect, so I don't want to hear another negagtive word out of your mouth." I hate bullying, and I always pull the bullies aside and educate them (after the first lecture, lol) about why what they are doing is wrong. Many bullies are bullied themselves, and think that it is the only way to get respect, but if they are shown how to get respect properly, they will stop.

A lot when I was younger. I really did not really pay attention to how bad it was when I was a child. Now I would be appalled if I would have witnessed such a thing and would step in. It could lead to some serious problems and not to mention a certain vicious cycle. Some people who were bullies were once bullied themselves and that is how they lash out. Or there is something bad going on at home.