Bullies usually have certain targets that they bully regularly. If you ignore a bully and he stops, that means that you are not one of these targets. If you are, then ignoring the bullying causes it to escalate.
I spent a week with a small group of kids going to various events and places for a week on field trips. Most of them didn't normally bully me because we didn't share classes. I was the obvious target as the rest of them knew each other and I was well-known as the kid that gets bullied and picked last in gym and that you don't sit with at lunch unless you want to be bullied too.
I did a very good job ignoring the bullying. It started with throwing food in my hair, taking my things when I left them unattended, and making out with each other on top of me. It progressed to physical assault that ripped my clothes and caused me to bleed. It would have continued to escalate if adults didn't notice it at that point. A number of people were expelled and suspended, which caused my bullying in-school to get much much worse and people who would hang out with me in private became too afraid of retribution to do so.
Also in a single instance, ignoring causes escalation. Once I had a ball I was playing with. Bigger kids wanted the ball. I ignored them and ran away playing with it by myself. The more I ignored them and tried to not be involved with them, the more they pursued me. I refused to let go of the ball because I was playing with it and there were plenty more where it came from. The ended up dragging and spinning and throwing me around by the ball. Shortly thereafter they repeatedly pelted me in the balls with the kickball until I agreed to stop playing. They would have all been expelled but it was a few days before the end of the semester and they were well-liked by everybody so they just graduated to high school instead.
In high school the bullying died down after my freshman year and I began to learn how to be a person.
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