Many of the kids I knew at the school happily boasted about goading people into hitting them or similar. One stole a postman's bag and ran around the street ripping up letters until the postman managed to grab him. The kid immediately fell to the ground and 'injured' himself. He was on quite a nice payout for that and the posty got a record for assault. I even had one kid try it on me at the school; literally ran into me and tripped himself over, then started wailing that I'd pushed him! Little **!&"*!.
And what if his father came round to get nasty over the slap? He'd get one himself. Now that father would duff his kid up a lot more, then drive to the nearest solicitor, followed by the police. Truish story, expect the kid had injured himself at the school by banging his head against the wall deliberately! Then said staff had done it... The police eventually came to the correct conclusion, but it nearly cost a teacher his job and certainly made his life hell for a few months.
Something like this happened to several friends that are teachers. Their ... solution ... solved all future problems they might have had at school.
In one case, my friend calmly told the kid that if he was going to be charged for "assualting" the kid, then he might as well really beat the XXXX out of him! The kid changed his attitude real quick.
In the other case, the kid claimed he could hit/kick/punch my friend and there was nothing he could do about it without ending up in jail. He told the kid that he ... might ... end up in jail or possible get probation, but the kid would walk with a limp for the rest of his life! Another quick attitude change.
One has finally retired from teaching, and the other is still teaching. Neither had any more problems with punk kids. But those kids also knew and realized that my friends meant everything they said. And that they personally would suffer any consequences for their actions. That mummy and daddy (or their lawyer) wouldn't be able to help them until they visited in the hospital.
Adding back in those personal consequences for their actions has a way of adjusting the attitude of many kids.
So it goes.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands