Student kindness should be emphasized in class. I feel that as a teacher it is part of our job to provide a disciplined and respectful class that includes students being kind to each other and working together to achieve their goals in cooperative learning. It seems to me that there are some lessons that are more important than curriculum such as tolerance and respect. I stopped my observation class for a lesson in gender respect when we were having high incidence of sexual harrassment and encouragement of such activities. I felt that it was much more important for students to learn to treat all genders with respect than to learn boyle's law.
Students are much more likely to actively participate in the learning process if they feel valued.
Teachers should respect their students and encourage their students to respect each other. The teacher should immediately deal with incidents like the one Phoebe mentioned so that everyone feels like they are cared for and noone is trampled. Although this is just logical, you might remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from ed. This means that a student who is not getting enough food at home, or is being abused, or has a negative self image cannot focus on learning. Therefore, it is important that we build an atmosphere where our students can feel safe and comfortable and good about themselves so that they can focus on and succeed at academic pursuits.