Do NOT threaten them! That will make it worse for her and could land you in jail. Your sister needs to toughen up and either come up with witty comebacks or ignore them. I'd recommend building up her own self-esteem and ignoring... karma is enough of a b*tch as it is. Report any physical abuse immediately. And stop being quiet... crappy people often are crappy because they can keep a good front on for the people who matter to them. If she doesn't let them do this to her quietly, the fear of being caught might start to set in.

The only thing that will make them stop is if your sister stops giving them the response they want. If she "fights back" and by that I mean makes witty come backs, ignores them, or turns around and acts kindly toward them despite their teasing, they will ease up. It depends on the personalities of the girls. And, high school is only 4 horrible, painful, annoying years, but then comes college where people are far more accepting.

IMO, you need to go to the school, and get them involved in solving this problem. If you want to threaten someone (and I don't blame you a bit for wanting to threaten the a$$holes who are bullying your kid sister) - threaten the school officials with a lawsuit, and be sure to tell them you'll get the little bastards who are doing this to her arrested for assault.

The following website is a great resource on how to engage your sister's school to solve this problem:

http://www.stopbullyingnow.com/interven.htm

Please use this resource, and start fighting for your sister. I strongly disagree with the idea that your shy sister is going to have to come up with witty comebacks to make these idiots stop tormenting her. She's a shy kid - she doesn't have that in her. What she needs to know is that there is a system in place to protect her, that will hold the people who are CAUSING THE PROBLEM accountable for THEIR behavior. You're just going to have to light a fire under that system to get it moving.

You're right about the families of these bullies - dealing with them directly is probably useless, since that's exactly where they learned this behavior. So get people in your community involved - rally your decent neighbors to support your sister.

This all may seem like a lot of effort, but stuff like this can do a lot of damage to your sister. Look at it this way....if there was someone beating your sister every day, how would you react?

And try getting her interested in some kind of activity that's not based in her high school - something where she can make some friends. Maybe some kind of fun class or group at a local community college? Because she's shy...what about a book club or a writing workshop? And try to find her a counselor she can talk to about all of this.

And finally, bring this out into the open in your family. Your family should do eveything they can to show their support for her, reach out to her (as often as it takes) - don't let her crawl into a shell she might never emerge from. Make sure she knows she's done nothing wrong, that she shouldn't be ashamed because she's been targeted by a group of losers. This will allow her to take her power back, and (mentally, at least) stand up to these people. Good luck - she's luck to have you on her side.

I know it’s hard to see someone you love go through this. What you need to do is talk to the school, and start threatening with legal actions. You can say that you fear for your sister’s life, that these girls call her, and are constantly threatening your sister. If they don’t listen to you (or your parents) you can always take legal actions. It’s the school’s duty to protect your sister form these kind of girls. But please don’t do something stupid like threatening these girls; it can take you to jail.

I 100% agree with honey knows, there are steps you can take and programs in place to protect children from this kind of abuse. You and your mom will probably have to fight to make sure that the school follows through on protecting your daughter, but just think about this. You and your mom's actions and fighting will make life easier for other kids in the same situation for many years to come. Do NOT threaten anyone. If you and your mom do not feel comfortable talking to these girls parents, then it is the schools responsibility to let them know that this behaviour will not be accepted. You will have to fight for her rights, but I really think that it will be worth it in the end. Also, like honey said, it would be a good idea to get her into counseling or to visit the counsellor at school to help her deal with this abuse. Good luck and good for you for looking out for your little sis.