Wednesday, December 10, 2008

How could teasing ever be wrong???

You know what really gets my goat (yes her name is fluffy and she is really pissed about this), the fact that we have become a society that is completely and utterly overprotective of our children. I mean what happened to letting kids realize that it hurts if you fall down, so maybe you should try to fall down less? or that sometimes it is important to shut up and listen for a second so that you don't make an ass out of yourself? or finally, that teasing is just fun, a way of making friends, and you should toughen up a bit if you can't take it?

My fellow blog poster and I were having a little conversation about teasing when she shared this very great article in the New York Times with me about teasing and its function in society and growing up. I could not agree with this article more, teasing is a fun, necessary, and important part of identifying yourself, where you fit into whatever social structure you are in, and a way of endearing people to each other. I won't try to claim that good teasing isn't an art form and that there aren't ways of teasing that go too far, but isn't this is skill that we should be allowing our kids to develop? Shouldn't there be just a little bit of teasing in all of our lives? Gotta keep it real y'all, and one way of doing a little checks and balances on what you are doing is allowing people to call you out on things in a playful and funny manner!

NYT article about teasing

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

teasing out of control? have a "safe word" ;)