Is teasing playful or harmful? It depends on a number of factors

By Naomi Andrews, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University
Molly Dawes, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, University of South Carolina

Picture this: a group of girls are sitting at a table in the lunchroom when a boy walks by. One girl turns to another girl and laughingly says: “Oh, isn’t that your boyfriend? You should go kiss him!”

A different girl chimes in: “Yeah, go give him a big kiss!” The girl in question responds: “Shh, stop that. I don’t want him to hear you!” and she smiles, but her face goes red. Her friends continue, making kissing noises and laughing. The others in the group join in laughing as well.

How should the girl interpret that behaviour? Were the teasers being playful — or taunting…

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