It's a tricky one... On the one hand I think teenagers (and some adults) don't always know they are being jerks / making others uncomfortable. And for them it might be fun to pick on others. It can be a thrill and give them an ego boost. They might not get how damaging /horrible they are being or might not care.

On the other hand, some people may have no experience of defending themselves particularly against non-verbal attacks.

I remember my response to a guy picking on me in highschool was to wait until class finished and then I started a fight with. I won. And he never bothered me again. But honestly I had no clue how to defend myself verbally. And it's taken years to learn how to be better at that.

I think teenagers would gain from learning how to negotiate better with their peers/handle people better. It's the verbal abuse that's a particular issue.

Encouraging people to be decent along with civic classes may help too.