New research has found playful teasing develops social skills
We read:
"If your child is being teased in the playground - don't worry, it's good for building character. New research has found playful teasing, and being called names such as "ranga" [short for Orangutan. South Australian slang for a redhead], could be good for young people because it helps them bond and develop social skills. It may even make "victims" more likely to take on leadership roles in the long term.
Dr Erin Heerey, of the University of Bangor in North Wales, studied a group of university students in California and found that their "playful humiliations" led to them becoming better friends, The Daily Telegraph reports. [Any army man could have told him that]
Dr Heerey said playground teasing was a normal part of school life and should not be stopped by politically correct teachers. She said: "Teasing helps children to discover how to use their bodies, voices and faces to communicate nuances of meaning."
The findings are echoed by child psychologist Kimberley O'Brien, from Sydney's Quirky Kids Clinic, who said teasing helped kids learn not to take themselves too seriously. "They learn how to respond to playful criticism ... that can be useful in later life," she said, adding that teased kids could end up in leadership roles - and became strong enough to come back with witty comments.
National Centre Against Bullying manager Sandra Craig said teasing was part of the everyday currency of linguistic exchanges. But she said there was a boundary (between teasing and bullying) and part of growing up was discovering it.
Source
8 comments:
And when does teasing stop being "playful"?
Does it become something else when a child comes home crying every day because he's being called names at school all day long?
Does it stop when a child is afraid to go to shool because he's being beaten by classmates every day and constantly has bruises and broken teets?
Or does it stop when he ends up in a hospital emergency room with a knife in his chest?
It stops when the child learns how to defend him/her self, an ability they'll need to survive in the real world, not the "nanny-state" world created by bleeding hearts! If your kid is taught that it's a victim, that's exactly what it will grow to be.
Problem with that is that if your kid defends itself your kid will be the one punished by teachers and school officials, not the others who bully it (they're usually untouchable).
Believe me, that's exactly what happened to me.
I ended up dreading breaks, never straying out of sight of teachers and always making sure I had a wall or fence to my back so noone could sneak up on me.
Bullying hurts kids' capabilities of making friends, engaging with others, etc. etc..
It left me paranoid.
Get over it. If the name calling become physical, that's when it is not "playful."
When people let words harm them, they give power to the word(s).
Grow up!
It's all part of the Darwinian thing.
You show weakness and the predator smells your fear.
When I was young (aeons) ago you dealt with the problem. Society didn't care, the school officials didn't care and if you complined to your parents your dad (yes, Virginia kids had dads back then) gave you a couple of smacks and advised you to deal with the situation.
getting bullied is like getting cancer. At the end of the day YOU must deal with the consequences for better or worse.
"it"? "it"?
Knock that PC crap off!
Anon3, i understand your point, but you won't be spending the rest of your life in school. If you can't survive there, what chance will you have in the real world? The answer: NONE! And if a "teacher" reprimands you for defending yourself, so be it. It's not the end of the world. Todays schools (and especially the people who run them) are 90% BS anyway! If your parents are worth anything, they'll stand with you.
I got bullied in school because I was afraid that I would get beaten up. My father made me face up to the bullies by telling me he would take a Sam Browne belt to my backside if I came home whining about being bullied anymore. I went completely the other direction and became very physically aggressive. It has taken me almost my entire life to un-learn my aggressive ways. I am 63 years old and almost got arrested at an airport last week for challenging three guys half my age to a fight at the same time. I don't know whether my old man did me any favors by insisting that I fight at the drop of a hat.
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