Even for teachers accustomed to dealing with bullies, this case stands out.

And it seems this attacker has never heard of the phrase, "pick on someone your own size!"

A 34-year-old mom appeared in court Friday, on charges that she physically attacked a 15-year-old girl who bullied her daughter.

"It is a little disturbing and that's why I can't say it enough, I encourage parents to come forward and report any type of incident like this to the police. Don't take matters into your own hands," Det Rob Moore of Durham Regional Police outlined.

Officers allege the parent is the latest to be accused in a case of school yard taunts gone a step too far.

Here's what they say happened: two female students at an Oshawa school - which isn't being named - were engaged in a war of words. The elder of the two was allegedly picking on the 13-year-old, forcing the young girl to kneel in front of her.

So the younger girl told her mom what had happened, pouring out her sad story. But instead of going to the principal, cops allege the mom went straight to the bully.

Witnesses told them they saw a car pull up on Olive Ave. on Wednesday at about 7:30pm, come to a sudden halt and then heard a woman shouting at the girl who was standing on the street.

As the startled bystanders watched in stunned surprise, the woman allegedly got out of the vehicle, grabbed the youngster by the hair and stabbed her in the left side of her stomach with a pocketknife.

The girl was taken to hospital, where doctors said that the knife luckily hit a bone - otherwise, it would have been much worse.

The mom turned herself into police that same day and appeared in a Durham courthouse Friday. She was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. Police aren't releasing the name of the adult to protect the identity of her daughter.

She's in custody and will next appear in court September 30.

The 15-year-old is charged with uttering threats.

There's no word on what the fight between the two kids may have been about.

"The 13-year-old, I spoke to her," Det Moore said slowly. "She was in shock as well. She was quite surprised at the response of her mother but she's doing well now."

• Do not contact the parents of the student(s) who bullied your child. This is usually a parent's first response, but sometimes it makes matters worse. School officials should contact the parents of the child or children who did the bullying.
• Expect the bullying to stop. Talk regularly with your child and with school staff to see whether the bullying has stopped. If the bullying persists,contact school authorities again.
• Help your child become more resilient to bullying.
• Help to develop talents or positive attributes of your child. Suggest and facilitate music, athletics, and art activities. Doing so may help your child be more confident among his or her peers.
• Encourage your child to make contact with friendly students in his or her class. Your child's teacher may be able to suggest students with whom your child can make friends, spend time, or collaborate on work.
• Help your child meet new friends outside of the school environment. A new environment can provide a "fresh start" for a child who has been bullied repeatedly.
• Teach your child safety strategies. Teach him or her how to seek help from an adult when feeling threatened by a bully. Talk about whom they should go to for help and role-play what they should say. Assure your child that reporting bullying is not the same as tattling.
• Ask yourself if your child is being bullied because of a learning difficulty or a lack of social skills? If your child is hyperactive, impulsive, or overly talkative, the child who bullies may be reacting out of annoyance. This doesn't make the bullying right, but it may help to explain why your child is being bullied. If your child easily irritates people, seek help from a counselor so that your youngster can better learn the informal social rules of his or her peer group.
• Home is where the heart is. Make sure your child has a safe and loving home environment where he or she can take shelter, physically and emotionally. Always maintain open lines of communication with your child.

Source: U.S. Dept. Of Health and Human Services

More tips:

How To Reduce Bullying

What Your Kids Should Do

Who Do You Report It To?