recent research<\/a> shows rude behaviour spiked in Ontario classrooms following the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\nCivility may seem like a simple concept, she says, but it plays a large role in the everyday functioning of society.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing manners, opening a door for someone and giving someone your full attention while they are talking to you are small things, but cumulatively, we know that these small acts make a difference in our day-to-day lives and relationships with those around us,\u201d Spadafora says.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, a look around our current society shows incivility all around us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BRAVE team\u2019s previous research on adolescents has shown that higher levels of incivility can be associated with higher levels of bullying.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, engaging in uncivil behaviour in the classroom has been shown to predict bullying across time in adolescence,\u201d Spadafora says. \u201cThis finding highlights the need to prevent and reduce lower-level antisocial behaviour such as incivility, in an effort to also reduce bullying behaviour across development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naomi Andrews, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies, says there can also be a \u201clot of overlap\u201d between teasing that is fun and playful and that which is hurtful and feels like bullying.<\/p>\n
That hurtful teasing can sometimes happen between friends, she says, and may not be intended to be mean or to cause harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeasing where someone feels singled out or targeted seems to be particularly painful, with young adults in our research quite vividly remembering their pain even years later,\u201d Andrews says.<\/p>\n
Hurtful teasing or other types of aggression from friends can be particularly damaging, she says, because it comes from a person who is supposed to be kind and supportive.<\/p>\n
So, how can parents tell the difference?<\/p>\n
Playful teasing is usually reciprocated, Andrews says, with those involved teasing each other back and forth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is positive emotion clearly shown through laughing or smiling, and those involved are paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues of the other person, stopping if it looks like they\u2019re getting hurt,\u201d Andrews says. \u201cIf someone doesn\u2019t feel comfortable asking for the teasing to stop, or they do ask and it keeps going, that can be a marker of playful teasing that is crossing the line.\u201d<\/p>\n