Reply #102: You may be right that rules won't stop bad behavior

[dddem]

But they will certainly reduce it. And if there is a rule or law in place then a bystander (teacher, perhaps) may feel more empowered to intervene. People don't want to put themselves on the line if they don't feel like someone will back them up. There is a difference between trying to convince a person to do the right thing, and telling them they are breaking the law.
Also, if you make something against the law (segragation comes to mind)initially those people who formerly had advantages over others will balk and protest and get angry, but eventually (maybe not for a generation or more) it will become the norm. I'm 50 and I remember all the bussing issues in Boston (just a little too young to have lived through desegregation in the South), and how scary it was at that time, but when I read the Ruby Bridges story to my kids, they just couldn't even imagine there being a problem with an integrated classroom. They just don't get it; it's not an issue. My hope is that my grandchildren will have the same confusion about the controversy regarding civil rights for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation; it won't be an issue. A girl can dream.
Peace.