Just going on my observation of the tykes and preteens at the dojo where I go to practice Okinawan karate... getting a kid into martial arts is just about the best thing you can do to get them ahead of the game in terms of problem-solving skills, emotional self-control, quick (and appropriate) decision-making, and general awareness of people around them. The kids who actually stick with it realize that unnecessary force is... unnecessary...
...and they limit their actions to resonable self-defense and a certain amount of preemptive striking, without retaliating excessively and getting themselves in trouble, too.
You only have to lock out the teenaged bully's wrist and introduce them to the pavement once or twice before they stop trying to throw punches atcha'.
There's a no-tolerance policy on violence in the local schools around here, but they don't really enforce it: the schools are really small, so the teachers know the kids well enough to easily pick out who actually started a scuffle. I've never seen the responsible, self-defending kid get suspended, or any of that stupidity, in the entire time I've attended public school out here... and I've never seen the bully get away scott-free. It's refreshing.
