a serious matter

Yesterday my cousin sister said a serious matter to me . Since she is a kid she couldn't really see the depth of the matter. To her its just another incident in her school. What happened was that, some of the high school students in her school made improper comments about the students, who were from the north-eastern states, studying  in their school. She said their principal punished those rogues severely, but what haunts me is that they are just 15,16 years old and look at their mindset.
Racism is the last thing we want in our educational institutions.If anything like this could happen in a school then what's the point of education?. Education doesn't mean acquiring degrees, it's only a part of it. The real purpose is character formation. If this is what our thoughts and character is shaping into, then its a shame. we can't blame the kids only, the society they live on always have an impact on their character formation.
In my opinion all this rallies and demonstrations won't work. Someone has to set an example, i mean someone who people really look up to, someone they think who is genuine, someone they respect, someone they feel they can follow. I am sure people will follow, since we humans are social beings we are programmed to follow.