FUN?

What is harmless fun? Jokes and taunts that are not designed to hurt or criticize, including the subject of the joke in the joke, using slight jocularity to brush over inconsequential incidents that occur in our lives. We move on, get over it and look forward to the next hurdle that will be shared with our peers.

Harmless fun has no negative intentions, and if a boundary is crossed it is quickly recognized and rectified. When it is not, this can be classified as bullying.

Harmless fun can also be used to inspire or provoke action is youngsters, used correctly and with the right intentions it can also be used to encourage and help children. Combined with taunts, cruel actions or yelling, it can easily cross over to bullying.

THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN HARMLESS FUN AND BULLYING

When there is no good intention behind the "harmless fun" then this is classified as bullying. When the taunts become regular and repeated, when a person is singled out and ostracized from others and when it begins to offend, this is bullying.

When it becomes physical, when school/home/work is no longer a place of enjoyment, and when people turn the other way, this is bullying.

It is when the person has no empathy towards the one they are taunting and with little regard to the consequences of their actions, that this bullying. The line is very thin, but it's also a line that can expand and retract as long as a lesson is learned and no one is left emotionally or physically hurt. Maintaining respect, dignity and self-esteem is essential from birth to adulthood and must be recognized through times of jocularity and not crossed to signify the act of bullying.

Learn more about this author, R.L Hanlon.
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