Oddbean

I think it's rather easy to think that the solution to bullying is that we simply ignore it. Are you going to totally discount the emotional impact that can have, especially on a demography which is in minority?

fwiw, I'm not in school, and plan to become a parent someday soon. If I get to know my child faces emotional abuse on a daily basis, I wouldn't expect or want him to ignore it if it is affecting his health and ask the school authorities to ensure a safe environment for people there for education. Same goes for public spaces. Creating a safe environment for each individual is a necessary building block for a society, which includes emotional safety which we all know by first hand experience can be disturbed by someone verbally insulting us for no good reason. Individuals do owe each other to be nice to each other unless they are trespassing their private property, because that's the only place they can create their own rules.