I wasn't the smallest kid in school, but I was close to being one of the skinniest. I never got into what I would call a fight, but I got punched a couple times. I would face off, not back down, and maybe I would get hit, but that would be the end of it. Junior High was a war zone. There were students?/Men that towered above everyone else. Not graduating to the next level, they were stuck in Junior High until they dropped out of school.
I taught my children to not back down. That didn't go over too well with my Wife, after getting multiple calls from the Catholic School about our Son. Why does the defender get in trouble?