Journal article
Telling Someone and Telling on Someone—Is There a Difference?
Frontiers for Young Minds, Vol.7, 117
2019
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Have you ever been in a situation where you have asked yourself whether you should tell on a person because he or she is not doing the right thing? An example of this might be that you see someone on the school grounds pulling a branch from a tree and that person then tries to hit other children with the branch when they pass by. In your mind, you might start thinking about what might happen if you speak up. Will you get in trouble? Will the person you told on be angry with you? Will someone get hurt if you do not say anything? When faced with such decisions, it is important to understand the difference between telling on someone and telling someone. When we tell on someone (also called dobbing or snitching), we are trying to get someone in trouble on purpose. Telling someone is different, as we are speaking up because we are worried that something bad might happen or someone might get hurt. Our brains help us make decisions based on our past experiences and current thoughts … but sometimes parts of the brain can make this process even more confusing.
Details
- Title
- Telling Someone and Telling on Someone—Is There a Difference?
- Authors
- Michelle Kennedy (Author)Larisa McLoughlin (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastAmanda Clacy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Frontiers for Young Minds, Vol.7, 117
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.3389/frym.2019.00117
- ISSN
- 2296-6846; 2296-6846
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 Kennedy, McLoughlin and Clacy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451456402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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