In another discussion on here I talked about what it was like for me growing up. How terrible kids were to each other and how clickish. If any boy in the group showed weakness the other boys would gang up and pile it on until the target ran away crying or there was a fight. I remember kids crowding around and chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!". Every group had an established pecking order.
And now, with my boys, I don't see that anymore. Physical fights with their friends never happen. Bullying is stopped before it starts.
The thing I wonder is, is this due to a genuine generational shift, or is it just because my kids aren't growing up surrounded by poverty as I did? I always find myself saying their generation is kinder, but maybe middle class neighborhoods were always kinder and I just grew up in tough places?