How Far Do You Go to Protect Your Kids?

I know I personally would die for my kids, that is just the way Mothers are. But how far do you go when your kids are being bullied on the bus to school?

Here is the situation. My oldest son is being tormented by a (very manly) girl on the school bus to and from school. In September they were holding interviews for the two bus patrol positions. Three kids signed up for the job. My son, one of his best friends and this girl. The two boys got the job, and she started on her rampage. Now remember they are all on the same bus, so she lives in our development also. She and her little brother had spent almost every night in our backyard with all the other neighborhood kids playing football and other sports. Everything was fine until the whole bus patrol thing came up.

When the boys got their vests the trouble started. She would run to the vice principal, who is in charge of the patrols, and say that he wasn't doing his job and she should get it. It went so far as her mother coming in to complain about him. Now I do know my son isn't perfect, but he is a rule follower. If you are standing on the bus, he will give you a warning. And I think he was turning her in at least once a week for violations. My advice to him at that time was to have the other boy write her up for awhile to take the pressure off of him. It worked for awhile.

Now this week she has most of the older kids singing a rhyme about him. He has a name that is very easily rhymed with, and that does not help at all. He is a very emotional child and has been since he was a toddler. But I can't handle him coming home from school crying every night anymore. He wants to quit being a bus patrol so she will stop. Personally I feel that that would be like accepting defeat, and I don't think that it is a good option. This is why I need some advice from my readers, who are mostly Mom's too.

Do I go to the Mother of the girl to ask her daughter to stop? I do not know her parents at all, so there is no connection there that would make it easier. Or will this make it worse in the long run?

Do I go to the Vice Principal and ask him to talk to her? Or will this make it worse?

Do I let him fight his own battles and hope it works out in the end? Or will it just get worse for him?

I want him to be able to handle his own situations without stepping in to solve his problems all the time, but this has been going on since October.I don't want him to become afraid to go to school, or become depressed. I want to help him, but want to do it in the best way possible without hurting him in the long run. I know that things will be different next year on the middle school bus. He will have his best friend and older sister on the bus to watch his back for him. But I need the rest of this school year to go better. Have you guys come across this with your children? What did you do that worked or didn't work? What about the bullies in your childhood, do you still remember them? I don't want this to be a bad memory of his childhood. I just want my kids to be able to go to school without being teased so that they can get a good education and make a success of themselves in the future. I know he will survive through this, but want to be able to teach him how to handle himself with bullies. She is in the same grade as him, and will be in school with him for the next 7 years. That is why I am turning to my fellow bloggers for advice. Please comment if you have any suggestions, and maybe we can nip this bully in the bud together!