Your reply is important. There is a myth that bullies are weak cowards. Now, they may actually turn into cowards when they are faced with a fight that is important but they are likely to lose. But the idea that you can poke them in the nose and they'll go running is very false. It is absolutely true that fighting back without something to back it up can turn a bad situation into a far more dangerous one.

Not arguing that people shouldn't fight back against odds, or that there's no benefit to fighting even if you'll lose, but I insist that we be realistic about the situation a lot of people getting bullied are facing.