Why you shouldn't use sarcasm around children
<p><em><strong>Richard Dunk, Lecturer in Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, explains why you shouldn’t use sarcasm around kids.</strong></em></p>
<p>The image of the sarcastic teacher is a common one. From the masterful speech given by Socrates at his trial for corruption (his “<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.cirp.uqam.ca/documents%20pdf/Collection%20vol.%201/10.S.Rojcewicz.pdf" target="_blank">apology</a></strong></span>”), to the withering insults of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwkZ_EGeQ40" target="_blank">Mr Gilbert on The Inbetweeners</a></strong></span> TV show, sarcasm and teachers seem inextricably linked.</p>
<p>Ignoring advice from handbooks and manuals, in my own work as a teacher I have often used sarcasm to highlight rule breaking (“Late again, Timmy? What was it this time, alien abduction or a volcano in your garden?”) or challenge misunderstandings (“Oh yes, absolutely, clouds are definitely 100% made by steam from kettles”). And some believe that I was right to do so.</p>
<p>A <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.tes.com/news/tes-magazine/tes-magazine/no-sarcasm-class-dont-take-mick" target="_blank">recent essay</a></strong></span> in the Times Educational Supplement referenced a <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074959781500076X" target="_blank">study</a></strong></span> that argued that sarcasm from trusted people “increases creativity without elevating conflict” and can act as a useful <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/call-for-more-sarcasm-at-school-is-no-joke-emily-seeber-bedales-8hvzhr9br"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>teaching</strong><strong> method</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p>The teacher who wrote that essay said in a subsequent <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lw3l9">interview</a></strong></span> that sarcasm is one of many tools available to improve creativity in science lessons. But it is a conclusion I have some trouble accepting.</p>
<p>On a basic level, sarcastic comments are <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X99921247">more difficult to understand</a></strong></span> than plainly spoken phrases. This would suggest that the use of sarcasm impedes learning rather than improving it.</p>
<p>And aside from the pro-sarcasm stance being based on just one or <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-09700-001">two</a></strong></span> studies, there are other significant issues surrounding its use as a teaching tool. First, it’s not for children and, second, it’s discriminatory.</p>
<p><strong>Not suitable for children</strong></p>
<p>The studies around sarcasm and creativity use participants aged 18-69. Unlike adults, who can discern sarcasm from context, children <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1130840">rely heavily on intonation</a></strong></span> to verify ironic suggestions or humorous exaggeration.</p>
<p>If sarcasm isn’t identified by the “recipient” then it can seem misleading at best, cruel or damaging at worst. A study in <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://journals.co.za/content/interim/12/4/EJC151575">South African schools</a> </strong></span>concluded that sarcasm could be “a direct violation of fundamental rights of learners to dignity”, akin to corporal punishment. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/819365">One teacher</a></strong></span> suggested that “sarcasm can be as destructive and painful as other forms of humour can be rejuvenating”.</p>
<p>There is some <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/honorstheses/368/">suggestion</a></strong></span> that millennials may be particularly sensitive to sarcasm, and a negative interpretation may damage trust and create obstacles between “juniors” and those in positions of power.</p>
<p>The risk of damaging the pupil-teacher relationship is particularly high for teachers new to the profession, or those taking on new classes, since a lack of familiarity with the speaker makes sarcasm <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.2003.97.1.251">more likely to go undetected</a></strong></span>.</p>
<p>If sarcastic comments are undetected as humour, and subsequently interpreted as a true statement, then misunderstandings will abound.</p>
<p>School classrooms, labs, and workshops are inclusive places, where learners with different backgrounds and needs work in the same space. This variety makes sarcasm a questionable tool. Students with English as an additional language may <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sociocultural-Theory-and-the-Pedagogical-Imperative-in-L2-Education-Vygotskian/Lantolf-Poehner/p/book/9780203813850">struggle to either understand sarcasm</a></strong></span> due to a language barrier, or see sarcasm as wholly negative due to <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378216613002063">cultural differences</a></strong></span>.</p>
<p>People with learning disorders find it difficult to recognise and interpret sarcasm. An inability to understand a sarcastic situation has been seen in children with high-functioning <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0387760403001700">developmental disorders</a></strong></span>, and children with ADHD have demonstrated specific <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021992416301423">deficits</a></strong></span> in comprehending paradoxical sarcasm.</p>
<p>If sarcasm is used in inclusive environments such as schools, teachers run the risk of communicating in a way that is alienating, misleading, or insulting.</p>
<p><strong>Oh, so you think sarcasm is utterly evil…</strong></p>
<p>Despite the many pitfalls, there may be positives to a careful use of sarcasm. Both using and receiving may indeed have a positive effect on creativity. In some cases sarcastic comments can serve as a “hook” to help people remember a particular fact or lesson. Where students “get” a teacher’s comments, it strengthens relationships.</p>
<p>This would be particularly true for older students. Their brains have a more developed prefrontal cortex, which is an essential part of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-12819-062">understanding and interpretation of sarcasm</a></strong></span>. In certain circumstances, sarcastic teacher comments are revered, and collected to be <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/student-writes-down-teachers-best-5772714">shared more widely</a></strong></span>.</p>
<p>Like much in education, the use of sarcasm in the classroom seems to be something of a double-edged sword. Sure, it may stimulate creativity and strengthen existing relationships, but it may also lead to feelings of exclusion. Given the minefield that a use of sarcasm presents, and range of safer ways in which <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.ase.org.uk/journals/school-science-review/2009/03/332/1957/SSR332Mar2009p91.pdf">creativity may be encouraged in science</a></strong></span>, my feeling is that giving in to sarcastic tendencies is probably best avoided.</p>
<p>So if you want to use sarcasm to improve creativity in education, go right ahead. I can’t see that causing any problems for you at all …</p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>Written by Richard Dunk. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.theconversation.com" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Conversation</span></strong></a>.<img width="1" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90635/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation"/></p>
