It's my mistake for not taking action

I just feel bad because instead of telling my son not to play with her boys I told him to make it work since we all need to get along in the neighborhood. Plus he is in the same class in school as the older boy.

After being attacked in the face with high powered water guns, having water balloons slammed onto his head, chased and threatened with big sticks when he walked outside our front door and after falling off his bike because the younger brother put a stick through the spoke while he was riding I kept persisting my son try to get along with them.

My concern was that each time he came home crying and running away from them they would continue to bully him more and tease. Eventually he did stop running away and crying and got mad instead. He's been bullied at school and the teacher has been working with the class on a mild mannered way to handle this however any animal and human nature instinctively reacts with violence when threatened. Learning to control that takes time and maturity.

Now the other parents of the bullies are labeling my son as the bully and not fit to play with. And they won't talk with us about this in person but instead send us Emails. How weird is that?

Thanks for your support and reply.
Goldenhair