Abingdon News No.59

8 January 2022 Did you know that the word “bantz” entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015? Did you know that the Archbishop of Banterbury has 3.6m followers on Instagram? There is even a website called “Social Confidence Mastery” that promises to teach you “how to banter like a pro”. Laughing with or at someone All the pupils at Abingdon (hopefully...) know that I hate the word “banter”. To be fair to Social Confidence Mastery their first instruction is to Have Positive Intentions, but too often in the moment this is something that gets forgotten. The reality is that the desperation to be seen as funny – to fit in - to earn the label of being bantz - means that comments soon become poorly judged, and laughing with someone turns into laughing at someone. Yes – when we are on the receiving end, we often laugh along as a defence mechanism, but the problem with banter is that it can very quickly slip into cheap, hurtful, personal comments. Laddish defence Nowhere can this be more aptly illustrated than in the exposure of the “banter” at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Shockingly, Yorkshire claimed that use of racist slurs such as the p-word was “in the spirit of playful banter”. These incidents highlight one of the essential problems that can occur – that the word “banter” becomes a laddish defence, but once that veneer is peeled away, all you are left with are deep seated prejudices, or insults that leave lasting scars. It is important that we all learn to joke, and laugh, and have playful interaction with our friends. Having a sense of humour, and sharing stories and wit and jokes is crucial to bonding, but careful of banter…Our advice to our pupils would always be to ask yourself if you would enjoy it if you were on the receiving end of the joke. If you have any hesitation over that question at all, then it’s best to remain quiet and keep things to yourself. Mark Hindley, Deputy Head (Pastoral) Playful banter or hurtful jibes? Mark Hindley reminds us to think carefully before we try to be funny at someone else’s expense. It’s a fine line between being witty and clever and causing offence. One Kind Word was the theme of this year’s anti-bullying week. Students discussed the impact of kindness in tutor groups and through assemblies. Moldova project The pandemic prevented Abingdon students travelling to Eastern Europe in the summer to organise the usual camp for Moldovan children. However, thanks to the efforts of Agape, our long-term charity partner in Moldova, we were able to fund much-needed school equipment for children from 50 families from the town of Ialoveni and nearby villages.