I like the fact that you used the ripple effect to describe how he called out the popular kids for being jerks. I agree with you that they did retaliate in the wrong way and that they did stoop to his level. It was awesome to see that you were on the same page with what to do with a difficult group member. They definitely may not even notice what they're doing is unhelpful so being able to approach them and just let them know what their actions are. I never thought of one person approaching the person instead of everyone to avoiding the feeling of being attacked, that was a good idea.
