And it's not legislation, according to this New York Times Op Ed. Whether or not you agree that anti-bullying legislation is a good idea, there's an important message here about the role of community and social and emotional learning (SEL) in combating bullying and a subtle but powerful critique of the high stakes testing culture. "[I]n American curriculums," authors Susan Engel and Marlene Sandstrom point out, "a growing emphasis on standardized test scores as the primary measure of 'successful' schools has crowded out what should be an essential criterion for well-educated students: a sense of responsibility for the well-being of others." These authors recognize the interconnectedness of academic learning and SEL:

[E]ducators need to make a profound commitment to turn schools into genuine communities. Children need to know that adults consider kindness and collaboration to be every bit as important as algebra and reading.

In groups and one-on-one sessions, students and teachers should be having conversations about relationships every day. And, as obvious as it might sound, teachers can’t just preach kindness; they need to actually be nice to one another and to their students.

and the importance of a comprehensive approach to bullying prevention:

[O]ur analysis of successful bullying-prevention programs across the United States and abroad reveals that the key common factor is their breadth: both in terms of the people who participate and of the deep connection between specific policies and the larger social ethos of the school community.

A lot of good stuff packed into one Op Ed! Check it out. (See also this earlier post about a Maryland middle school that has found success with just such a comprehensive approach and this post on the importance of community-building and, in particular, on the role of students as stakeholders in the process.)