[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Question about British/American difference...

[Richelle Votaw]

Pip!Squeak writes:

> Yes. Again, it depends on the school. Very few primary (pre 11)
> schools nowadays would call a child by anything but their first
> name, but in secondary schools it's still not uncommon for pupils to
> be called by their surnames.
>
> It's a way of emphasising that your teachers are not your family or
> your friends but are your *teachers* and you and they have to
> observe a certain distance.

Well, I'm not British, but I must say I do on occasion call my students by
their surnames.  Usually prefaced by a "mister" or "miss" though.  It adds
to the sharpness of the tone as well.  :)

Rich writes:

> Yup, definitely. You can inject more venom into a 2nd name than you
> can a first name, too. Most of the time.. Its hard to inject much
> venom into calling someone 'Harry', but 'Potter' is already pretty
> venemous (lots of plosives :). Also true of my own name - 'Richard' is
> a relatively soft sounding name, but 'Thorp' can be injected with
> venom (Know that from experience :)

Precisely my reason for the occasional surname usage.  Oh, and I teach 1st
grade, by the way.  There are a few students around the school who I
frequently call only by their surname (no mister necessary), particularly
those who are extreme behavior problems, it's about all they respond to.

Anyway, about the sir/ma'am thing.  In this state (Louisiana) we have a law,
passed a couple of years ago, that students *must* use "sir" and "ma'am"
when speaking to teachers.  Now, of course, it's up to the teacher to
enforce it, so that makes it slightly irrelevant!

Richelle