Class,

There is a common social problem that I am sure you have some experience with - bullying.

Bullying others, ridiculing others, and discriminating against others is much easier when we do not truly know the person we are hurting; that is, when we have only a mental abstraction of who or what this person is.

This hurtful behavior is incompatible with the positive culture we will create in our classroom. These are but a few personal characteristics which will not be ridiculed in our classroom, I encourage you to add your suggestions to the list: religious beliefs, exceptionalities, language fluency, race, ethnicity, national origin, affectional orientation, physical appearance, dress, or economic status.

It is completely acceptable do disagree with one another; it is completely unacceptable to hurt one another.