School banning banter

Agree @Combattingthemoaners.

It is obvious those mocking do not work in schools especially - listen tit nose is us who do. “Banter” has been banned because so many students use the term to excuse offensive language. Ofsted have raised it. It’s in our safeguarding training. Banning banter will make my job easier as I can now just punish a student for calling another “gay” without being told “it was only banter”.

No could only afford the CD lol she seems pretty sane as an adult though think she survived the trauma

So this has recently become an issue because Ofsted are looking closely at it when they inspect schools.

However the rest of society chooses to define banter, many teenage boys use racist sexist and homophobic language and consider it banter.

A school recently was rated inadequate over this issue because it was felt that the school were not creating a safe environment and girls, non-whites and LGBTQ students were being bullied in the name of banter.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nngjd4zw0o.amp

Now you might think that the police would not be interested in "banter" but when it becomes racist hate speech they do have at the minimum a duty to record it.

There is also a big focus on peer-on-peer abuse. Again, it is not uncommon for teenage boys at secondary school to sexually assault girls. It is incredibly common to hear teenage boys making very sexist remarks and even threatening to rape/assault girls in their class or schools.

There has for a long time been a focus on preventing abuse in schools. There is now a recognition that a lot of the abuse is peer to peer and ofsted amongst other government agencies are trying to work to reduce sexual assaults, hate speech and racist incidents.

The majority of the perpetrators of these are teenage boys who when spoken to about any of these incidents (up to and including full on rape) say "it was just bantz".

We do not have free speech in the U.K.

We never have had.

Genuinely don't understand why people think this.

You should read the Casey Review. I am sure lots of the officers would have said their language and behaviour was just “banter” too or boys being boys.

I agree that SM/porn is definitely contributing towards the issue. This is why we are seeing a rise in toxic masculinity and why schools are trying to combat it. Perhaps the phrase “banning banter” is where the school have gone wrong. I know there is another campaign in schools where the phrase is “it is never just banter”. This targets the issue more as racial, homophobic or misogynistic slurs cannot be used under the guise of “banter”. However, the school in the OPs post have clearly just done blanket assemblies with “banning banter” as the title to catch the attention of students and make them listen - it has worked. I bet they gave examples of joking with friends in a way that isn’t offensive and “banter” that is. I am sure they will target specific groups once they have reports of this type of language being used but it relies on people reporting it which is why they have done the assemblies. It’s to empower students to speak up and report issues they previously may have put up with as “banter” when in reality it is bullying.

Language reflect societal attitudes and lots of the language used in schools is homophobic, racist, misogynistic and ableist. If schools are targeting that, even if it does only scratch the surface, it has to be a positive thing.

I think mostly YANBU but.... Something needs to be done as this excuse of "it's just bants innit" is a new excuse for bullying and I honestly think we've got to the stage of some kids fully believing that it's universally acceptable to bully someone as long as you label it as being 'bants'

I don’t have a problem with friendly banter, i do have a problem with misogyny. I haven’t seen anyone that’s said it’s no problem? But I would put this in the behaviour/bullying category rather than banter.

Why not target those that are disrespectful to females?

@StarDolphins but a large part of male banter is being disrespectful against females, and if it is meant to be something that parents need to deal with, that might be problematic as quite a few mums on here don’t seem to have a problem with it, hence schools have to deal with it

No idea but much easier to avoid by just turning them off than having to sit next to someone for hours everyday dripping poison in your ear.

Unless you are in the forces or emergency services. It’s how they deal with trauma and difficult situations. That’s women and men.

The new name is bantz. It used to be called having a laugh. I’m not talking about treating woman inappropriately.

DH was army for 15yrs and police for 17yrs. My DS x 2 went to an all boys school. All men/boys together automatically take the micky out of each other.

For my kids being at an all boys school and having a veteran as a dad it’s what they are used to and it’s part of who they are. It’s definitely a man/boy thing and is very over the top to try and stop it.

The school is silly, boring and very woke. It’s breeding snowflakes.

Most people do want a better society with girls & women treated how they should be. The world is a more awful place now with porn/SM. Banning banter won’t even scratch 1mm of this. Educating them will do a bit better but a lot is down to parents - teach your girls high self-worth & how they should be treated & teach your boys to respect girls. Instead of banning banter, target the people that are misogynistic/homophobic etc and come down on those like a tonne of bricks.

Banning WhatsApp/SM would be excellent.

Not you personally but I do find a high proportion on MN to be generally very offended about a lot of things.

@Namechangeforcheese but why is misogyny still deemed okay in comedy shows but racism isn’t?

Are you really in work if you are not gently bullying each other you need something to get you through the day

People who can’t see the difference between outdated comedy and child on child banter (bullying) must be a bit thick.

I can watch misogyny in sitcoms & it doesn’t bother me one iota.

Would I put up with it in real life? Absolutely not! I have high standards about behaviour from men. I hold my worth high.

I will teach my DD to be exactly the same. that’s all we can do, give them the tools to deal with it. It’s often how they’ve been brought up & as women have become more equal, it’s fed it. Comedies aren’t to blame, shitty men are.

Just good old fashioned banter with colleagues. ❤️

Omg near spar my coffee out laughing have to go make another now ger

@MyUmberSeal does your office banter include taking the piss out of your clients (both dead and alive)?

Kids use ‘banter’ as a way of excusing horrible comments to each other. Its often taken the wrong way and they end up upset so it’s a good move to say it’s not allowed

Oh and that’s ok. 🙄

I'd like to understand whether the polic have been consulted on that.... I mean how seriously are they going to take it? Let the school threaten away

@MyUmberSeal so you think there is nothing wrong with misogyny?

They are only frowned upon by people that find them offensive. The rest of us still enjoy them. But alas, those who are offended shout the loudest and it drowns out everyone else who think more rationally.

Also, not all women feel like wimpering victim’s when a misogynistic comment is made.