As a nation, we are hugely divided on the term "banter". It can be positive...
But it has, of late, taken on a more negative aspect.
However, we can all be pretty sure classroom banter is rarely a good thing.
Except on Tumblr when it's often amazing.
No but really.
Anyway, whatever your opinion, there are certainly less positive connotations to the word. As The Times reported:
The term gained notoriety over the summer when the football League Managers Association sought to explain away as "friendly banter" a series of allegedly racist, sexist and homophobic text messages exchanged between Malky Mackay, who was then the manager of Cardiff City, and a colleague.
There was also Richard Keys dismissing sexist remarks about Coventry football official Sian Massey as "banter" and this then happening all over Vine.
Which arguably was quite good banter.
The point is we're a nation undecided on this word. But one teacher has decided the negative aspects of "banter" outweigh the positives.
In a blog for the Times Educational Supplement, Mike Stuchbery, a teacher and blogger in Great Yarmouth, has written:
I'm banning banter in my classroom.
Now, lest you accuse me of lacking a sense of humour, let me state for the record: I'm no stranger to jokes; I adore 'em. However, I loathe banter.
Once a term that signified "light-hearted joking, a gentle ribbing of a friend", banter now seems to be a catch-all term for any sort of off-colour or inappropriate behaviour. If I catch someone stealing another student's pencil case, calling a fellow pupil a derogatory name or thumping them on the back, nine times out of ten I'll be met with, "Siiiiir, it's just bantaaaaaaaah".
It's as if kids think squawking these words in the tone and cadence of an East End fishmonger is some sort of magic get-out-of-jail-free card.
Banter is everywhere. It's on television, radio and especially the internet. Chuck "banter" into Facebook and you'll get hundreds of pages dedicated to ripping a person, group or organisation to shreds.
Through repetition and the magic of social media, banter has become an acceptable, friendlier-sounding term for bullying.
(Continues here).
Most teachers appear to be supportive of the idea, but he's also getting abusive tweets because hooray internet.
.@sgarside11 I came out against bullying and abuse and you've called me a 'f*cking idiot'. Outstanding.(ping @mitchedgeworth)
Which is rather depressing. Might just spend the rest of the day laughing at teens' jokes on Tumblr.
Honestly, that website nails it every time.
