Editing Teasing (section)

==In Indigenous American communities==

Some indigenous American communities use teasing to teach their children about the expectations and values of the community and to change negative behaviors. Teasing gives children a better understanding of how their behavior affects the people around them. Teasing in Indigenous American communities is used to learn community acceptance, humbleness, correcting behavior and social control.

In some Mexican indigenous American communities, teasing is used in an effective educative way. 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. This type of teasing is thought to teach children to be less egocentric, teaches autonomy and responsibility to monitor their own behavior.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Silva|first=Katie|title=Teaching children through 'little dramas': Opinions about instructional ribbing from Mexican-heritage and European-American mothers.|journal=ProQuest, UMI Dissertations|date=2011|pages=1–66|id={{ProQuest|926578064}}}}</ref> Parental teasing also is practiced to encourage the child to think of their behavior in a social context. Some Indigenous American mothers have reported that this urges the children to understand how their behavior affects others around them. From examples in Eisenberg's article, parents use teasing as a way of reinforcing relationships and participation in group/community activities ([[prosocial behavior]]). Parents tease their children to be able to "control the behavior of the child and to have fun with them".<ref>Eisenberg, A. R. (1986). Teasing: Verbal play in two Mexicano homes. In B. B. Schieffelin & E. Ochs (Eds.) Language socialization across cultures. (pp. 182–198). New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

An [[Inuit]] principle of learning that follows a similar teasing pattern is known as issumaksaiyuk, meaning to cause thought. Oftentimes, adults pose questions or hypothetical situations to the children (sometimes dangerous) but in a teasing, playful manner, often dramatizing their responses. These questions raise the child's awareness to issues surrounding their community, as well as give them a sense of agency within the community as a member capable of having an effect and creating change. Once the child begins to answer the questions reasonably, like an adult, the questions would stop.<ref>Briggs, J. (1998). ''Inuit morality play: The emotional education of a three-year-old''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.</ref>

In some [[Cherokee]] communities, teasing is a way of diffusing aggressive or hostile situations and teaching the individual about the consequences of their behavior. It allows the individual to feel how their behaviors are affecting others and control their behavior.