Early identification of, and appropriate intervention for, these students would go a long way toward helping them change these destructive patterns of behavior. School counselors can create groups with a common, empathizing theme such as children of divorce, and make sure to mix the popular students with the unpopular students in the same group to empathize with one another. Teachers can establish and enforce specific rules against bullying, as well as hold regular classroom meetings with students to discuss bullying and related behavioral issues. Teachers can identify students who may benefit from participation in a small group where discussion would focus on appropriate ways to deal with bullying. Teachers can learn more effective strategies for dealing with bullying.
Teachers can model compassion for all students.
Most students are neither bully nor victim. They are however witnesses to the bullying that takes place around them. Students can promote a positive school climate by discouraging bullying behavior among their peers, promoting inclusion of all others in their activities and seeking to foster acceptance of differences. Maine's students need to be educated about bullying and what one can do if one is the victim of a bully and what one can do if one sees another student being bullied. To stop bullying we need to empower the caring majority of students.