“Verbal bullying includes name-calling, insulting, intimidating, mocking, threatening, taunting, teasing, and making racist or sexist comments. When does teasing cross the line and turn into bullying? Not everyone agrees, but some researchers see both teasing and bullying as points on a continuum of intentionally hurtful behavior, different only in degree (Froschl, Sprung, and Mullin-Rindler, 1998). One study (Oliver, Hoover, and Hazler,1994) found that children are confused about teasing: They said it was done in fun, but they also ranked it as the most frequent bullying behavior. Verbal abuse is the most common form of bullying for children of, both sexes, even young ones (Kochenderfer and Ladd, 1996; Nansel et al., 2001).” – B. Kaiser and J.S. Raminsky, p. 254

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/teasing