Bullying is far less likely to take root in school cultures where kindness, empathy, and responsibility for others are the norm, where students care about and feel responsibility to the school community as a whole, and where a critical mass of students model positive behavior for other students... These caring school cultures also help students feel empowered and valued, which in turn means they are less likely to seek power or find value in dominating, demeaning, or marginalizing their peers...
If we want to prevent bullying, we must do more than teach our kids to be upstanders and not to be bullies... We must start by teaching them to be kind, especially to those different from them in background and character, and to help build caring, inclusive communities...
Much of the work of cultivating kindness in our kids begins at home n school... As parents n teachers, we must not only be strong moral role models, we must also be willing to admit our imperfections and show our kids that being a kind and empathetic person is a valuable and lifelong practice... We should also strive to create a culture of accountability at home n school that begins with us as parents n teachers... we should ask ourselves, are our own actions influencing our kids’ attitudes and behaviors... Sometimes we need to have the courage to ask respected friends and family—including our kids—for feedback...
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