I say that maturity is the best way to avoid bullying. because quite frankly, you only bully if you are immature. Dealing with conflicts can be done with out "you're such a whore." "You're stupid." "I hate you." and other rude comments. You do not need to hit someone to get your point across to him or her. Talking about someone behind his or her back or even to his or her face is wrong and immature. And everyone does or has done this. By acting as a mature person, you can avoid a scene of hitting, name calling, rude glares, and other various forms of bullying. Forgive and forget, don't pick a fight. Or realize that bullying will not make you feel better about yourself. A little bit of maturity can go a long way. Now, I don't claim not to be a bully, because I am. I bully my friends all the time. I shouldn't, but it has become a habit. And I know this to be true for many people. Bullying is a habit that needs to be broken, and it all starts with a little maturity. Resisting the urge to shout "freshmen!" when a class of 9th graders comes in to your class in order to borrow the laptops, or deciding against giving dirty looks to someone who thinks differently from you are both ways to prevent little events of bullying by a little maturity. If you get in a physical fight, you can be mature and not strike back to the person who hit you first. This is also an example of how a little maturity can help prevent bullying. Using positive words in a mature manner can also prevent verbal bullying. Rather than mouthing off about how someone looks slutty today, you can keep your mouth shut. Also, if someone you are not very fond of asked for help on homework, rather than being snotty to him or her, you can bite your tongue and help them, or gently say that you aren't sure of the material he or she is learning.
Simple acts of maturity can greatly reduce the number of bullying incidents seen throughout the school year and the summer. I firmly believe that if everyone were mature about their actions and words, bullying would become much less frequent.