Apologizing

Apologizing is a game mechanic in Bully. It can be used to convince antagonistic students to leave Jimmy alone. As Jimmy completes English classes, his ability to apologize gets better. This is reflected in his dialogue - before passing English classes he can only beg for other students not to pick on him. As he passes classes, he gets more confident and diplomatic in his apologies, and the people who he apologizes to are more likely to accept it happily rather than mockingly.

When a hostile character is directly targeted, an option wheel appears. To apologize, select the peace sign.

Apologizing to Authority figures
Jimmy gains the ability to apologize to Prefects after passing English 3. If his trouble meter is still in the light yellow, any prefect chasing him will accept his apology and walk away instead of trying to bust him.

Passing English 5 gives him the ability to apologize to Faculty and the Police. As with the prefects, if his trouble meter is still in the light yellow, they will accept his apology and walk away instead of trying to bust him.

The offenses Trespassing, Truancy and Violating Curfew cannot be apologized for.

Apologizing to Kids
Jimmy can attempt to apologize to any kid who becomes hostile. Before he passes any English classes, they will not accept his apologies, and male members of the Bullies, Preppies, Greasers, Jocks and Townies cliques will instead demand a bribe. The larger and more aggressive students, for example Damon West, are the hardest to apologize to and are most likely to keep demanding bribes.

In the mission This Is Your School, Russell will threaten Jimmy. The game will prompt Jimmy to apologize to him; Russell will demand a bribe instead and the game forces Jimmy to pay it. Russell also appears in a short tutorial on how to apologize effectively after Jimmy passes English 1.

When Jimmy passes English 1, his apologies will be accepted and the antagonistic students won't demand a bribe from him again. The Larger and more aggressive students will still be hard to apologize to and will sometimes demand a bribe from Jimmy.

Once Jimmy passes English 5, his apologies are almost 100% effective against kids. The peace sign option on the interactions wheel changes from yellow to light green.

Trivia

 * NPC's will always apologize to the antagonistic student bullying them, if the student is stronger then them. All Students including Townies, will be scared of Russell and will always apologize to him. The larger ones will try to walk away from him.