I think it is basic animal behavior and doesn't have to have any other causes..although scarcity of some sort will probably make it worse..I have no money so I will beat up a weaker kid for his lunch money. But it is there in all walks of life..I think it is innate and related to the pecking to death that chickens will do to remove weaker people..oops chickens.

Anyway, I worked for schools for a long time and it is a horrible horrible problem and part of the problem is the teachers and principals etc. were idiots..pure and simple. They would not address it. It is more recognized now and they are at least doing some things about it. You have to really really look at the girls and their behavior..they will be subtle and they will be brutal. If I were a principal I would start the school year off by meeting with the cheerleaders and saying the health of this school depends to a large extent on your behavior and I will be watching you like hawks. This whole cheerleader thing should be the subject for all sorts of research and if it was only about cheering they could do that in much more modest attire and without various displays..so if you were able to tone that way down in high schools it would go a long way towards breaking up various cliques, in and out groups etc. etc.

That does not address younger children. Children have to be monitored. School buses are a bully's paradise and should videos that could be reviewed. The bus driver has to drive...volunteer adults are one possibility.

One problem is that at least in places like Seattle, children were bussed to hell and gone. So you did not know who the children were if they were not in your neighborhood. There was no one to call. Schools were filled with idiot adults..sorry if you work inthat profession but I had to leave because I just could not work with them. Chidlren are not being protected, even when adults, even principals, are notified. At least that was in the past. I do think it is better now.

So we have to see it as innate behavior that will happen unless we take measures against it. THere have to be swift and sure consequences. We have to call it when we see it. We can't just look at big thuggy looking boys and let the pretty little girls get away with psychic murder.