Teacher bans 'banter' from his classroom
A Norfolk based English teacher has banned the word "banter" from his classroom because pupils see it as "a get out of jail free card" for bullying behaviour.
Writing on his blog, Mike Stuchbery said banter was "classic victim blaming" which students feel "entitled" to do. He defended children who were the victims of it, saying they were forced to play along with the humiliation or face further ridicule. Mr Stuchbery, who works in a school in Great Yarmouth, said he had seen the term "banter" used to excuse hundreds of cases of bullying:
If I catch somebody nicking someone’s pencil case, calling another student a derogatory name or thumping them on the back, nine times out of ten I’ll be met with a ‘Siiiiir, it’s just bantaaaaaaaah!’.
On this morning's show, we're asking viewers how they and their children stopped the bullies - what's your advice for anyone going through something similar?
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