- Positive Discrimination: All the bullies, sans for one dark skinned girl, are white while Emily and the principal who end up helping Vanessa are black. Vanessa's mother is also Hispanic.
- Unfortunate Implications: Nikki seemingly getting away scott-free with the bullying. The closest thing to comeuppance she gets is the principal threatening her with suspension for her e-mails. But she continues with the bullying anyway. In today's society she could be realistically do jail time for her harassment of Vanessa.