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ARTICLE

Hazardous Humour: Professional Boundaries (Professional Relations Services)

Professional Relations Services Staff
Fall 2009

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Most people like to think they have a great sense of humour, and pride themselves  on making others laugh. As teachers, we’re no exception.  It’s delightful when  we  can  make  students smile despite themselves. Good cheer is a good teaching tool.

As  educators, we  are  performers who  are on display all day long. We need to engage our students, motivate,   inspire,  and  support them. Sometimes we think that humour is the way to go. We’ve read Robert Munsch’s books or  similar books to our own kids or to a group of young students, and we have seen the magic that shared laughter can  create.

However, reactions  to humour are highly individual. What one person finds funny, another may think is stupid,  boring, or offensive. Ask yourself whether  you  like  the  Three  Stooges. Captain Underpants?  Austin Powers?  Russell  Peters?   Jerry Seinfeld? You  might like  some of  them, all  of them, or none. Your own close friends or family may not share your views. Humour and jokes are the hardest concepts to translate and the most difficult to understand in a language not our own. Humour  is rooted in age, sex, culture, language, and religion. For many people comedy is  funniest when it deliberately  violates social norms or taboos. Many  teachers have found themselves inadvertently wading into  dangerous waters when they attempt to use  humour in their classroom or with their colleagues.  Humour can indeed be hazardous  in the school setting.

Students
Recent cases brought  before the Ontario  College of  Teachers   illustrate the  danger of  classroom humour. In one case, a  student was exaggerating the extent to which he had hurt his finger in gym class. In response, the teacher joked, “Would you like me to cut if  off?” This remark, in combination with other comments, was investigated  as unprofessional  conduct. Although not meant as such, this type of comment could be perceived by the student or others as a threat.  While intended to lighten the mood, the remark could be seen as menacing and as an attempt to silence or embarrass the student. Threats of physical violence will never be seen as  funny by the Ontario College of Teachers. Sarcasm and  irony  are  not  useful  tools  in the  classroom. These types  of  comments are frequently  misunderstood and   misinterpreted. This year, for example, the College’s Investigation Committee  issued a written  caution  to a teacher who made derogatory comments to students and also  sarcastically questioned whether one  student “had a brain.”

Boundaries
Teachers  are acutely aware that they must maintain a professional  distance from their students. They are educators  and role models, not friends or parents. Inappropriate  humour with students is  viewed as  a  boundary violation: a  failure to maintain a  professional comportment and  distance, and a failure to appreciate  the sensitivity that  students may have to a teacher’s comments, however humorous in intention. It is very difficult to tell what type of humour will be appropriate in the classroom, given the differences in culture, religion, sensitivity,   and maturity levels  of  students at all grades.

Off-Limits Humour
What is off limits in terms of humour?  A joke or comment  is hard to consider “funny” if it:

  • is demeaning to a child’s self-esteem
  • is racially or ethnically motivated
  • refers to historical tragedies or world leaders who have been widely condemned
  • is sexually suggestive
  • invokes an episode of violence or hatred (e.g., a reference to the Columbine shootings  or to the 9/11 terrorists  attacks)
  • demeans a specific religious belief
  • ridicules
  • can be construed as mean, sarcastic,  or hostile
  • is degrading to a member of a minority group.

If  you  have  the  slightest inkling that what you’re about to say may be controversial or sensitive, keep it to  yourself.

Overhearing Students Use Inappropriate Humour
If  you hear your students teasing, ridiculing, or making offensive  jokes, be clear and firm: explain that this behaviour is not humorous, why it is not, and that it will not be tolerated. Furthermore:

  • Do not accept “it was just a joke” as a defence. If a remark is hurtful or offensive, it is not funny.
  • Do not laugh along with inappropriate jokes that students make.
  • Do not forward or share emails that you think are humorous but that could be construed as profoundly  “unfunny.”
  • Take appropriate  action  when inappropriate humour is used by students.

We need to use  our best judgment and discretion in these situations. No one wants to teach in a humourless  environment,  but teachers have to be aware of  the professional standards that guide their conduct. In  this  way, you  maintain your position as role model and educator without compromising  the  respect you’ve earned along the way.

Humour Among Colleagues
Colleagues  may also take exception to off-colour or inappropriate  humour. Offensive humour outside the classroom  that affects the school community  can   attract  human  rights  complaints, harassment complaints, disciplinary measures,  or College of Teachers complaints. As  teachers we  owe each other respect in  our workplaces.  We are as  diverse as  our students and  our  appreciation   of  humour is  as  idiosyn- cratic.  Do not share off-colour  jokes touching on sex,  sexual orientation, gender, religion,   origin, or any of the other areas that can cause offence. Be especially careful with the Internet and email correspondence. Don’t forward offensive jokes or pictures to your colleagues. Some might delete them, others might   send  them directly to  the College or school board. Remember that poisonous humour can poison a workplace.