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I grew up in Northern Ohio and I have used sir and ma'am my entire life. They are terms of respect.
This psycho witch 'teacher' should have been fired yesterday.
I agree the teacher should be fired. We never called anyone sir or ma'am except if we didn't know them and weren't introduced. If my family knew them then they would be introduced to us as Ms or Mr with their first names. And this is how we addressed them. It's much more personable. You are showing respect to each individual rather then calling everyone ma'am and sir.
I agree the teacher should be fired. We never called anyone sir or ma'am except if we didn't know them and weren't introduced. If my family knew them then they would be introduced to us as Ms or Mr with their first names. And this is how we addressed them. It's much more personable. You are showing respect to each individual rather then calling everyone ma'am and sir.
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"Let this year be over..."
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I like how so many are calling to fire this teacher all based on a 4 year old story with no information on this teacher, her performance or credibility. As the article says it was handled by the schools Administration at this Charter School and that's where it should end not with a public lynching as some seem to advocate.
Teachers are human and none of us know why she objected to this common form of address but going forward if the Administration has addressed it lets hope she has seen the error of her ways. If you start eliminating every teacher that you feel has slighted a child at some point in the school day there won't be anyone left to teach, of course no one ever would say that the child's behavior was unacceptable that would be unthinkable...
"Write down the word ma'am until you've covered up this whole piece of paper and then take it home and have your mom sign it."
Mom gets mad and asked that the kid get a different teacher.
School puts kid in a different class. Assuming it is with a teacher that doesn't mind being called "ma'am"...
Dont know but I do know when you are raised to use respectful terms like Ms., Mr., Sir, Ma'am it becomes quite a habit and you do it without thinking. So she didnt want to be called ma'am, ok. Give the kid some time and slack to adjust, kind reminders, dont punish him. It does not appear the child did this out of spite.
I like how so many are calling to fire this teacher all based on a 4 year old story with no information on this teacher, her performance or credibility. As the article says it was handled by the schools Administration at this Charter School and that's where it should end not with a public lynching as some seem to advocate.
Teachers are human and none of us know why she objected to this common form of address but going forward if the Administration has addressed it lets hope she has seen the error of her ways. If you start eliminating every teacher that you feel has slighted a child at some point in the school day there won't be anyone left to teach, of course no one ever would say that the child's behavior was unacceptable that would be unthinkable...
I agree. Firing a teacher for this faux pas is as bad or worse than making the kid write for saying ma'am. No one should lose their job or lively hood over small indiscretions. As you said we are all human. Things can be resolved without such drama and extremes.
I agree the teacher should be fired. We never called anyone sir or ma'am except if we didn't know them and weren't introduced. If my family knew them then they would be introduced to us as Ms or Mr with their first names. And this is how we addressed them. It's much more personable. You are showing respect to each individual rather then calling everyone ma'am and sir.
you're about 99% correct. Little Johnny at a friend's house:
"Hi, Mr Steve."
"Hi Johnny. Would you like some Jello?"
"Yes, sir."
he wouldn't say "Yes, Mr Steve"
Now, once I got out of college, in the business world, I continued to use sir and ma'am, and often "Mr Jones" (not the first name anymore) when talking with a customer or a senior employee. And often, they would say "please don't call me Mr Jones. Mr Jones was my father." or "You don't need to say sir", indicating as an adult we were now on (more) equal footing.
Now, it's a cultural truth that some adult Black people will still call any white person they know "Mr Jones" or "Mr Steve" instead of just "Steve".
But we don't have any indication that this teacher was trying to break little Johnny of that excessive deference.
I fail to see the issue that this teacher had. It's respect and manners. I use the ma'am and sir reference all the time and I am from Philadelphia. Why does this teacher have a hair up her azz about it?
Thoughts?
I was raised to say yes sir or yes ma'am, and it's reflexive. Once you learn it, it's automatic.
This story happened in August - indicating it was likely the first day of school or one of the very first.
I'm glad he got moved to a different class. My guess is, she thought he was being defiant after being told she didn't like that term.
I'm betting if she kept her job, she stopped forcing kids not to call her that name.
HOPEFULLY.
I get teachers have bad days and this was NOT SEVERE punishment to say the least. It also underscores how woefully lacking we as a country are in the teaching arena. We need better people to be teachers.. JMO.
I agree this teacher overreacted, but I do disagree that Ma'am is only a Southern term. As a Senior woman, I have been called Ma'am in both the South and the North by strangers in stores and restaurants. High end restaurants in North say Madam. lol
My daughter is in her 30's and lives in NY. When she is alone in society, she is called Miss. When she is with her children, she is called Ma'am. Maybe a salutation for all Mothers?lol
I have worked in Pre-K and Kinder classes in NY and Florida. All female staff were called Miss and their given name by the children. As a woman in my 60's, I thought the Miss was a bit silly but if it made the kids more comfortable, so be it. In a Head Start class one little girl called me Abuela Jo. Asked her why? She told me it was because I reminded her of her "very small" Grandma. lol Cute. Why take offense at that? It was an endearment.
In the upper grades the students called the staff by Mr., Miz, Mrs. with the first initial of their surname. People have difficulty in pronouncing some surnames so the initial suffices.
At the very least, a general respectful salutation (and gender neutral), would be a person's Professional Title: Teacher, Doctor, Sargent, Senator, etc. You MEN are lucky. There is far more confusion when it comes to women.
Edit: I will grant you the confusion in what to call VP Harris' husband. How about VP's spouse?
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