On a related subject: I once met a man, who when he found out I was a speech therapist told me he used to stutter. I had absolutely no idea. He told me how he got over it and to this day Im dumbfounded. He went to a university speech clinic for his stuttering and was asked to speak in front of a class of speech students. He started to speak, and stuttered quite a bit. The students started to make little comments here and there mocking him openly. He was furious and yelled at all of them and lectured them about his hard it had been, that they of all people should understand, etc , etc. He was 100 % fluent. It was all a set up. The students had been told to tease and bully him. I don’t know exactly what the rationale was but it was a huge turning point for him. I guess all of this is to say bullying is shitty behavior. No one needs to be treated like that. It says everything about the ass that does it and nothing about you. Feel free to tell them off if it feels right. They are the one who deserves to be ashamed. Just be sure not to hold back—let em have it. It might be freeing.