Teasing
[1] When teasing is unwelcome, it may be regarded as harassment or mobbing, especially in the workplace and school, or as a form of bullying or emotional abuse.
Informal ways of child learning include mutual responsibility, as well as active collaboration with adults and peers.
People may be teased on matters such as their appearance, weight, behavior, family, gender, faith, health/medical issues, abilities, clothing, and intelligence.
This behavior is intended to distract, disturb, offend, sadden, anger, bother, irritate, or annoy the recipient.
This type of learning is often overlooked because it is different from the way Western American Communities teach their children.
Tantalizing is generally playful among adults, although among children it can be hurtful, such as when one child acquires possession of another's property and will not return it.
Another way to look at teasing is as an honest reflection on differences, expressed in a joking fashion with the goal of "clearing the air".
As opposed to being nice to someone's face while making disparaging remarks behind their back, teasing can be a way to express differences in a direct fashion rather than internalizing them.
Teasing is found more useful because it allows the child to feel and understand the relevant effect of their behavior instead of receiving out-of-context feedback.
Some parents in Indigenous American communities believe it mildly embarrasses the children in a shared reference to give them a good sense of the consequences of their behavior.
From examples in Eisenberg's article, parents use teasing as a way of reinforcing relationships and participation in group/community activities (prosocial behavior).
Oftentimes, adults pose questions or hypothetical situations to the children (sometimes dangerous) but in a teasing, playful manner, often dramatizing their responses.
[7] In some Cherokee communities, teasing is a way of diffusing aggressive or hostile situations and teaching the individual about the consequences of their behavior.
[8] As the name suggests, backcombing involves combing the hair backwards from end to root to intentionally tangle the strands to create volume.
