Our society has ambivalent feelings about male violence, an ambivalence that's reflected in student social structure. Movies help cause our interest in violence, but they also reflect it. If a boy is aggressive and shy, he won't be popular. But if he's aggressive and athletic, he can be. Sometimes violence is functional.
Aggression is devalued for girls.
That's deeply entrenched in our culture. There's no one approach. Educators can do better at reducing bullying and violence if they understand the role that violence plays in the children's social structure. For example, educators sometimes try to reform a bully by teaching him better social skills. A better approach might be to encourage the boy to develop another talent as an alternate route to popularity.