This morning as I poured over the latest USA Today headlines, a story about the following video going viral over the last few days caught my attention. And it got me thinking, what is it about kids where they feel the need to bully, pick on, and just down right be rude to other people – whether their fellow classmates or, as in this example, 68-year-old bus monitor Karen Klein? As of the timing of this post the 10 minute-plus video has received more than 1.6 million views and many more video responses and comments. What we’re really interested in from the perspective of the education system is how do we teach kids the importance of respect for each other and what type of discipline is an appropriate response?

While the video is difficult to watch, the feel good story coming from the episode is that one viewer, moved by what he watched, used the popular fundraising site indiegogo.com to start a modest fund to send Klein on a much deserved vacation with a $5,000 budget. The public’s response? The fund as it sits this moment has received $256,498 and is growing so rapidly that the Website hosting it is experiencing traffic overload – http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein.

So what do you think – beyond parental disciplining, what role should the education establishment play in teaching kids about the negative affects of bullying?

By the way, Klein’s response to the pestering, “Unless you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Looks like Ms. Klein is getting the last laugh.

*Please note the following content may be viewed by some as profane and vulgar.