Funny this thread comes up when it does. My 12 yo daughter and her good friend are going through something similar. There is a smart but trailer girl in their grade who taunts and speaks behind their backs but tries to be nice to their faces. I explained to my girl in front of the wife that the other girl is a classic bully. I also told her there is one thing bullies at this age will understand - that is pain and blood. Now, my daughter is a really sweet kid and prefers not to be confrontational. I told her I was bullied when I was young and at times was even a bully. I am not proud of either. I also told her a bully will keep taking a piece of you if you let them. To this day I regret what I did and did not do about it myself. So, I said if you want to put an immediate stop to the bully girl you break her nose with a good punch in front of all the other kids. While she is screaming on the ground you tell her loud enough for other to hear that the BS stops now or it will be 2x as bad the next time. Honestly, I hope my little one decks the kid. To the OP: good for the boy. Exactly how it should have been handled. Puzzy schools have no idea what a disservice they do to kids these days.
