My Daughter is at an age where some of the girls at school have started being horrible witches nasty to one another in the playground. My Daughter has always been wonderfully quirky, with a heart for justice and the kindest, most empathetic person I've ever known. Old beyond her years (in a beautifully old lady way-she's recently taken to wearing her reading glasses on a chain round her neck 
)
The new hormonal nastiness has her outraged (LOVES a rule!) but not upset. Some of the things (particularly comments about her adoption) that she's told me have made me far more upset than they have made her.
I told her what I thought might be a good way to quieten the bullies and today my 9 year old loudly replied to one 'I'm sorry, did you MEAN to be so rude?!' Apparently other children burst out laughing and said bully stropped off. I like to think with a cats bum face.