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I didn't see a story to read but perhaps this teacher simply had very poor people skills? That certainly wouldn't be rare these days in the public sector. Many of our so called "statesmen/women" are examples.
So, a boy got in trouble at his school because he called his teacher "Ma'am' out of respect because that is how he was raised. Apparently the teacher had a Canip**** over it and had gotten the principal of the school involved. Why????
Why is using Sir or Ma'am disrespectful these days?
It isn't disrespectful unless the person addressed as such has already previously requested that people do not address them as such.
In this case it's not a societal issue, it's a personal issue. The kid repeatedly disrespected the teacher's personal request on how she wanted to be addressed, the teacher made a mountain out of a mole hill by making the kid write ma'am on paper, and the kid's parents also made a mountain out of a mole hill by informing social media about the incident.
Silly boy, silly teacher, silly parents. Practical principal. It's a trivial incident, not what I call a news worthy issue.
A few days ago, this kid ran into the back of my car. Probably a college freshman or sophomore. When we pulled over, he said, "Ma'am, I apologize--my foot slipped off the clutch."
When I recounted the story to a friend, I said, "Ugh, I was like why is he calling me ma'am? I'm not that much older than him! Was he saying I'm an old woman?" My friend's reply was, "No, he called you ma'am because he was trying to be respectful and was praying you wouldn't blow up over him running into your car!"
It's clearly a sign of respect, even if it makes one feel older than being called "miss." If the teacher disliked the term, fine. But you can't expect people to change overnight. Anyone could mistakenly say the wrong word. I wasn't there to hear the kid's tone, but I suspect she overreacted.
Sounds like it was the son of a one of those tradesmen who insists on calling you "chief" (snidely) when they come to work on your house.
Many times Hispanics out here will call me Mr. (first name) if they doing some work for me, or buying something from me. It sort of bothers me because it seems to me to be self-deprecating. However, I never say anything.
When I recounted the story to a friend, I said, "Ugh, I was like why is he calling me ma'am? I'm not that much older than him! Was he saying I'm an old woman?" My friend's reply was, "No, he called you ma'am because he was trying to be respectful and was praying you wouldn't blow up over him running into your car!"
In the 1980s I innocently called a woman at the New Orleans airport "Senora" and she was definitely offended and told me right there before God and everyone else in the terminal that I should have addressed her as "Senorita." I was an Ag Inspector and I barely spoke Spanish and I believed her to be older than me at the time. I apologized and continued my job.
One never knows anymore what will offend a person anymore. My slogan when dealing with people in public is now just keep your head down, eyes straight ahead, lips shut and press on.
The teacher had informed the class how she was to be addressed. Mr. comedian student would not follow directions and was disciplined.
More of a problem that the parents took to social media before requesting a meeting with the teacher. They may have learned their child is a borderline discipline problem.
Actually the parents went to the school addressed it, in result their kid was removed from this teachers class.
He also was not being a comedian. The 10 year old actually spent time in the hospital for seizures which has caused issues with his memory and hallucinations. https://abc11.com/education/tarboro-...maam-/4041588/
We are on the west coast and my kids say ma'am and sir. They also address adults Mr/Ms and their first name unless other wise directed to do so. We are told all the time how respectful our children are and how others wish their kids were like that.
Most would call me a liberal now even though I don't agree with the left all the time, just a lot more often than I agree with the right wing.
The whole ma'am issue has always baffled me. I was taught to say sir and ma'am as a sign of respect. I used it frequently with teachers and pretty much all adults when I was in school. Not one of them ever had a problem with it and I was frequently called polite by female teachers because I say yes ma'am. I graduated high school in 1994, so obviously the world is far different now. People of all colors, religions (or lack thereof), genders, political affiliations, etc have all gotten overly sensitive at times. Myself included even thought I try not to. Its just the way things have become.
This particular topic always annoys me. First, I think a lot of women have been told ma'am is offensive and instead of thinking about it or taking the intentions of the person speaking it into consideration, they just get offended immediately. I've never seen a man get offended being called sir. The two words are equal to me because they were simply gender specific terms that showed respect for adults and/or authority figures (in the class, the teacher is the authority so ma'am seems fitting to me.)
I don't purposely use ma'am these days because I've been exposed to my share of women just waiting to be offended that I politely said ma'am to and got the reaction of an angry uptight ******* that I might as well have just slapped.
If they don't like the term, they can tell me they prefer something else, I will kindly apologize, and address them as they prefer. If I'm being respectful and using what to a large number of people is a term of respect, and someone gets bent out of shape about it, I know that person isn't capable of discerning intent and their little angry tirade and attempt to "correct" me is just a childish reflexive response displaying just how thin skinned and ignorant the person is.
I live in the deep south and hear sir and ma'am all the time. In fact I use both for strangers and elders I seldom have contact with. However, this teacher, according to what I read, repeatedly asked this student not to call her ma'am. Since this story broke I have heard about no other parents coming forth with similar complaints. This teacher has many students and there has been no reports of other inciidents. I would bet a tall glass of way too sweet tea and a piece of pecan pie that the problem is the student, not the teacher. I mean, as much as those words are used around here why did this only happen once? Probably because the other students addressed her the way she requested. If I were a teacher and this happened to me most posters in this thread would be calling for my termination as well. And it would be just as well ... if I was not addressed as I asked many times I would make the kid write it 1000 times and call him a punk to boot.
This was the mistake of the parents (or the principal)"
Quote:
They added that Tamarion was hospitalized last month for a seizure-related activity, which included memory loss and hallucinations, something the teacher was unaware of.
The teacher should have been advised of this.
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