In older grades, it is not enough to have rules. We want children to treat each other kindly not just because they will get punished if they don't. We want them to recognize the hurt that others feel when they are mean. So we have to discuss the reasons behind the rules , or preferably, to generate rules together as a classroom community in order to solve classroom problems. At all grade levels fiction, video and role play can help children understand the emotions behind the rules .
Harassment depends upon prejudice.
Therefore, we must teach children what prejudice is and help them distinguish between prejudice against a group of people and reasoned dislike of an individual person. We must teach that prejudice is wrong because it lumps people together and condemns them as a group. We must help them come to the realization that having learned prejudices may be inevitable, but refusing to notice them in ourselves is sad, and continuing to act on them once we see them is shameful. We must help them examine their own prejudices. We must help them remember times when they were hurt by prejudice and times when they may have hurt someone else.