Everyday playground conversations, classroom incidents and sibling disagreements can offer useful chances to talk about the difference between shared humour and hurtful teasing. This colourful children’s poster supports those discussions with clear signs to notice, simple language for checking in, and phrases for asking someone to stop.
A clear visual prompt helps children recognise when a joke is mutual and when it has become unkind, upsetting or embarrassing. The poster compares “joking” and “hurting” side by side, making it suitable for conversations about teasing, name-calling, banter, bullying behaviour and personal boundaries.
The joking section identifies five signs of playful humour: both people are enjoying it, nobody feels hurt or uncomfortable, the joking stops when asked, it does not make fun of someone, and everyone feels okay afterwards. A speech prompt models how to ask permission before joking about a subject.
The hurting section names warning signs that children may spot in real situations, including someone looking upset, only one person laughing, continuing after being asked to stop, making fun of someone, or leaving them feeling worse afterwards. It also gives the assertive sentence, “That’s not funny to me. Please stop.”
Teachers, school pastoral staff, counsellors and parents can print the poster for a classroom wall, nurture room, wellbeing display, therapy session or home discussion. The final check-in message encourages children to ask whether someone is okay, stop when requested, apologise when feelings have been hurt, and try to put things right.
