"It's much better to teach a child to stand up for itself and to have a more robust character."
Sorry, can't agree at all - a perfect recipe for 'survival of the strongest' - or should I say 'most robust'.
Personally I find the term 'wimp' offensive and am more than a little surprised to read it described as harmless by a teacher.
I grew up on one of the roughest overspill housing estates in the Britain, Kirkby, outside Liverpool, and I experienced and witnessed some violent bullying, which, I have no doubt, scarred some children for life, both physically and mentally.
Violence goes nowhere but upward and I would not wish it on any child - but that's probably politically incorrect.
Jim Carroll