I don't think you'll ever eliminate bullying, but I think it can be reduced. I think you can attack this problem from a few different directions.
you can reduce the perceived threat of not being considered valuable by the tribe
you can increase the perception of value to the tribe
you can decrease differences in social maturity
you can decrease the social cache associated with victimizing other kids
So, within this framework I think you can imagine a lot of different ways we could change things to reduce bullying. I think ultimately the most powerful (and hardest to achieve) would be a cultural revolution in the west that fundamentally changes our way of treating children in the home and community so kids feel respected, listened to, included in decision making and valued contributors to the community. While this may not feel attainable, I think it does frame the problem as intergenerational and it needs to be thought of on that time frame.
Failing that, addressing income inequality can play a big role. Doing so increases the likelihood that parents have opportunities to spend time with their children, giving meaningful guidance and intervention, paying attention to their development, freeing up opportunity think about how their kids are developing and giving them resources to address deviation. This can reduce differences in social maturity and also decrease the perceived threat of being thrown from the tribe. This can do a lot but does not address the social psycho rich kid bully - that is something different much more akin to sociopathy and is a different conversation. In theory it might actually help by reducing their privilege, but only if you are able to almost eliminate it will you eliminate them.
In addition, expanding social programs so kids can get involved in many different types of activities to give them opportunities to find ways they can feel uniquely valuable by the community in positive outlets.
And lastly this feels lib but I have seen a big difference in kids over the past generation with simple directed education about emotions, empathy and normalizing acceptance of difference. This addresses the fourth point. Over my time I've seen the biggest difference on this metric, as bullying is growing more likely to be seen by other kids as lame or pathetic, an act to be looked down upon.
Anyhow those are some of my thoughts hope that helps.
Okay so the pancakes were :chefs-kiss:
I don't think you'll ever eliminate bullying, but I think it can be reduced. I think you can attack this problem from a few different directions.
you can reduce the perceived threat of not being considered valuable by the tribe
you can increase the perception of value to the tribe
you can decrease differences in social maturity
you can decrease the social cache associated with victimizing other kids
So, within this framework I think you can imagine a lot of different ways we could change things to reduce bullying. I think ultimately the most powerful (and hardest to achieve) would be a cultural revolution in the west that fundamentally changes our way of treating children in the home and community so kids feel respected, listened to, included in decision making and valued contributors to the community. While this may not feel attainable, I think it does frame the problem as intergenerational and it needs to be thought of on that time frame.
Failing that, addressing income inequality can play a big role. Doing so increases the likelihood that parents have opportunities to spend time with their children, giving meaningful guidance and intervention, paying attention to their development, freeing up opportunity think about how their kids are developing and giving them resources to address deviation. This can reduce differences in social maturity and also decrease the perceived threat of being thrown from the tribe. This can do a lot but does not address the social psycho rich kid bully - that is something different much more akin to sociopathy and is a different conversation. In theory it might actually help by reducing their privilege, but only if you are able to almost eliminate it will you eliminate them.
In addition, expanding social programs so kids can get involved in many different types of activities to give them opportunities to find ways they can feel uniquely valuable by the community in positive outlets.
And lastly this feels lib but I have seen a big difference in kids over the past generation with simple directed education about emotions, empathy and normalizing acceptance of difference. This addresses the fourth point. Over my time I've seen the biggest difference on this metric, as bullying is growing more likely to be seen by other kids as lame or pathetic, an act to be looked down upon.
Anyhow those are some of my thoughts hope that helps.