My point is that sometimes it can be difficult to tell the actions of a fairly typical middle school student who thinks they won't get caught from that of someone who will later be called a psychopath or sociopath by the press.
The guy who bullied me in elementary school ended up gunning down his parents and killing himself.
Almost all bullies learn the behavior as a result of repetitive direct abuse or observing it somewhere.
There are tests that can clearly pick most of these kids out.
Right now the "solution" is to detect overt behavior at school and "discipline" the kids. The underlying issue still exists. Most kids will move on and find a way to deal with the underlying problem and some will not.
The better solution is to get counseling for these kids, the bullies, and to identify the adults in their lives who are doing the behavior. Most people do not want to go there as this is another layer that will expose some pretty ugly stuff.
