Prison guards given ‘banter lessons’ so they don’t offend the inmates

Banter is described as 'the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks'

Prison Officers have been offered "banter lessons" in a bid to protect the feelings of inmates who may be offended by jokes around their "protected characteristics." Bosses at HMP Moorland, South Yorks, have recieved 51 complaints in the last year pertaining to how prison officers speak to the inmates. The 1,000-inmate facility released a report from the Independent Monitoring Board that showed 18 discrimination complaints and a further 33 about other inappropriate jokes. "The prison has online equality and diversity training for staff, with 49 staff completing this within the past year," the report said, according to The Sun. "During the year, 16 staff attended 'banter' workshops." [caption id="attachment_351194" align="alignnone" width="400"] HMP Moorland/Via Twitter[/caption] Banter is described as "the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks", but anyone from the UK will undoubtedly have experience with genuinely harmful statements being packaged as "just banter." A prison source told the outlet that the workshops would've doubled down on "protected characteristics." "You certainly can't make any jokes about someone's weight or nationality, and any reference to disability or religion is a complete no-no," they said. "You can hardly even take the mick out of the football team someone supports." The source continued: "There are all sorts of initiatives and workshops these days to ensure prison officers don't breach equality rules — but a banter workshop is a new one on me. "I'm guessing it's like comedy shows Whose Line Is It Anyway? or Mock the Week, but I'm not sure I'd be cut out for it." According to the Anti-Bullying Alliance, it's not banter if:

• You'd be upset if someone said it to you
• It's hurtful
• You're not friends with the person
• Someone directly asks you to stop
• The target isn't laughing
• It focuses on an insecurity

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