Professor Shelley Hymel:

From my experience over the past 20 to 30 years, I would caution that although parents definitely have an impact, and poor parenting certainly can really break a child, there are also many good parents whose children stumble upon bullying because it is effective. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket, which is why I am arguing strongly for a diversity of approaches. There are children whose parents have done everything right, but those children have, in effect, found out they can get what they want if they push other kids around. We have to temper our response because one particular strategy will not work for everybody. Dr. Downes may have something to say on this point.