As school counselors or teachers, or parents, encouraging children who have been bullied to “work things out” with the bullies may make things worse. Particularly not without the supervision of adults or the support of peer mediators.
Keep in mind, the bullied child is not at fault. Mediation-based approaches tend to imply that both parties are partly to blame. We risk further victimization or control of the target. Never ask children to work things out on their own. Bullying is not a simple conflicts between children. Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength. And most often it is repeated over and over.
Source: www.ask.hrsa.gov