Oh, hey - and since we're talking about an entire group of children being thugs because of the way that they dress, here is an article's thoughts on stereotyping and bullying.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping is a common characteristic of insults; it is also an area of extensive theorising. Paradoxically, however, most of the theory on stereotyping is unhelpful in elucidating the emotional experience of an insult's target. Much of the academic literature on stereotypes regards them as oversimplified views of reality or as errors of overgeneralization. Martinko (1995) for instance, approaches stereotypes as "a subcategory of perception and attribution" (1995: 533) offering an equivocal view of their advantages and shortcomings. This tradition of theorising scrutinises the cognitive and perceptual processes involved and identifies the deleterious group and organizational consequences of stereotyping, in phenomena such as 'groupthink' (Janis, 1972)) or authoritarianism (Dixon, 1976).
In contrast to this cognitive approach to stereotyping, the political and the psychodynamic approaches seem to ground stereotypes in the political and psychological realities of organizations. The former views stereotypes as forms of discrimination and oppression, and, the second, as wish fulfilments, especially as manifestations of unconscious aggressive fantasies and desires. The political approach is adopted by Kanter (1977: 230ff) and feminist theorists (See, e.g., Gutek, 1985, 1989; Sheppard, 1989; Leidner, 1991; Auster, 1993
who regard them as instruments of sexual oppression in and out of the workplace. Far from being the result of ignorance, naivete or cognitive blind spots, these theorists view stereotypes as barriers to equality which are systematically maintained and reproduced. Enlightenment alone is not enough to overcome them, since they support material interests. The psychodynamic view, that of stereotypes as wish-fulfilments, reinforces the feminist contention that sexist stereotypes not only support material male privilege but also male psychological needs. Freud, on several occasions, argued that men find it hard to view women beyond the stereotypes of mother-figures or temptresses (Freud, 1910h, 1933a; Rieff, 1959). More recent variants of these arguments have added some further stereotypes to the original two (e.g. pet, iron-maiden etc.) but maintain the view that such images meet various male desires and fantasies. (Kanter, 1977) What these two approaches have in common is the view that stereotypes are no mere generalizations or even errors, but are mental forms supporting and supported by psychological and political structures.
Stereotypes assume the character of insult precisely when the target finds him/herself literally trapped by the perpetrator's biased perception, where his/her every action can be skewed to reinforce the stereotype. Allowing the perpetrator to get away with an insulting stereotype enhances its social acceptability and may lead to escalating insults. Challenging or contesting the stereotype may often be accommodated within the stereotype, under the guise of 'temperamental', 'obstreperous', 'lacking in sense of humour' etc. (See Sims et al, 1993) Thus, stereotypes strike at the heart of the victim's self-esteem, placing him/her in a position which exacerbates feelings of powerless and shame.
So, ironically, the people who think that an entire group of children are bullies... are the ones who're actually the bullies!