Here's something to remember, teasing and bullying are not the same thing. And name-calling is a grey area. Teasing is light-hearted is not intended to hurt anybody. Bullying, however, involves a power imbalance and if a bully is called out by a peer, they'll typically say, "Just mucking around, aren't we?"

When it comes to nicknames or pet names, I don't mind if a person's name is Terence and they prefer to be called Tel or Margaret and they prefer to be called Meg.

When I was in Year Twelve, recycled plastic was starting to be a thing and there was an advertisement for PET and a cartoon bottle was called "Pete Repeat" and a friend nicknamed me Pete Repeat, and another nicknamed me Petrochemicals. There was no malice in those names, so I didn't mind. When I was younger, I was called some horrible nicknames and with malice. If a person is given a nickname because of a name association, for example, my brother had a friend called Andrew Haines and he nicknamed him "Des" after Desmond Haines, the cricketer, and he didn't mind. And, in his shoes, I wouldn't have minded, either. If someone's surname is Grant or Lewis and you call them Hughie, as long as they don't mind, it's okay. Or, even, if a man's surname is King and he's nicknamed Rex or their surname is Hitchcock and you call them Alfie, that's okay, as long as they don't mind.