Back in the day, the most effective way to deal with bullying was to

1) overcome your fear and

2) Open up a can of whup-ass

Even if you lost the bullying stopped, since the bully realized he was at risk of getting physically hurt by bothering this individual. People respect others who stand up for themselves, winning the fight is not important its the standing up for oneself that people respect. The motto of some of my friends at the time was. I will never start a fight... but I will finish it.