Standing up to bullying in school

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: We're back. And as promised tonight, we have a new look at bullying, a huge concern for kids and parents. And while it's been around forever, that's true, it's seemingly more pervasive, now more intense. That has some school districts looking at new ways to fight back. NBC 's Kate Snow has our report.

MAGGIE: So does anyone know what any of these are? Have any idea?

KATE SNOW reporting: It's only the second week of school at Belmont Elementary in Olney , Maryland , and already these students are getting a valuable lesson in a teen mentor program called Project Change .

MAGGIE: No child can say that they haven't bullied or they haven't been bullied. Say something mean to new kid.

SNOW: Maggie should know. At 17 , she says she's been both a victim of bullying, and, to be honest, she's done some things she's not proud of.

MAGGIE: Playground at lunch, we had a basketball court and I took chalk and I wrote her name and then I wrote she was stupid. We need to put new kid back together.

SNOW: It's happening all over the country, at younger and younger ages, often online.

Unidentified Girl #1: Someone said, 'Oh, this person still sleeps with a blankie or sucks -- that person -- that person still sucks their thumb.'

SNOW: Belmont 's principal figures talking about bullying before it starts might keep it out of his classrooms.

Mr. PETER BRAY (Belmont School Principal): They'll be able to identify it, recognize it, and hopefully seek appropriate assistance when it happens to them.

SNOW: Belmont is doing a couple of things that experts say are critical, having children role play situations and teaching kids if they see bullying, do something.

Ms. MICHELE BORBA (Author, "The Big Book of Parenting Solutions"): If we say to our kids, 'I want you to stand up,' most of our kids would say, 'What's that mean? What's that look like?'

SNOW: As part of a "Dateline" report, we set up hidden cameras and, with their parents' permission, watched how a group of kids reacted when another child was bullied. The bully and victim are actors.

Unidentified Boy: That's not good.

LUCY: Don't be mean.

Boy: I'm not going to be mean.

SNOW: Lucy quickly befriends the actor victim...

LUCY: Come on, we're going to win this, Max .

SNOW: ...and shows concern for the victim's feelings.

LUCY: You see how you're getting your feelings hurt? Like, I'm not trying to be rude to you, but like seriously...

Boy: No, it's -- I mean...

LUCY: I'm one to stand up for people...

Ms. BORBA: Because of one child activating it, the other one steps in, and that's how you mobilize it. Eighty-five percent of kids are not a bully and they're not a victim, they're a bystander.

SNOW: It's what they're teaching at Belmont ...

MAGGIE: So how do you guys want to act this out?

SNOW: ...changing behavior one school, one child at a time. Kate Snow , NBC News, New York.

WILLIAMS: As Kate mentioned, tonight on a special "Dateline" broadcast, she'll host "The Perils of Parenting " as a veteran parent herself. It's a revealing look at bullying and other issues that parents and kids face these days. That's "Dateline" tonight at