Ugggh.... I am not at all looking forward to the pre-teen and teenage years. I still get sick to my stomach thinking about this girl who bullied me all through junior high. I guess it would be illegal for you to go to school and give the punk a taste of his own medicine (kidding of course!). I can imagine your frustration.
Of course, children as young as three know that it's not okay to bully others as the principal mentioned. The problem is that this bully could obviously care less about the rules, and to place the burden of controlling such things on an eleven year old child who is being bullied is, in my opinion, ridiculous.
I completely agree with CAMom's #5 suggestion. Perhaps you can start preparing written correspondence confirming your the conversations you have with the principal. Dear Principal _____: Please allow this correspondence to confirm the conversation that I had with you on _______, wherein I informed you that _________ has been physically and verbally harrasing my son, _________. Though you advised that _______ should report such behavior to a teacher without fear of repercussion, it is not repercussion from the school that my son fears. Yada, Yada, Yada....... Request that the principal and/or his staff make a formal investigation into your son's complaint and give you a written report with the results of the investigation. Although, admittedly,I am "that" mom who would probably blow something like this totally out of proportion because of what I went through as a child.
