Teacher nicknames student "Dum-Dum"!!!

[Pebblszzz]

My best friend Pam's son came home from school and told her that his teacher calls him "Dum-Dum" in front of the entire class.

Now the other students in the halls call him that, too.

When Pam asked him how he felt about this, he replied: "At least they're not calling me 'Fatty' anymore".

Poor kid!!!

Pam wants to retaliate, of course, but I'm hoping to keep her out of jail - any suggestions?

 

[MAC3]

That's not right and it should be corrected. That teacher needs to apologize to the student in front of the whole class.

Such a good example!!!!!! They should be fired. I would certainly say something and make sure her superiors know about it as well. How many other childrens self esteem will this person stomp on?

 

[Tess]

I've witnessed teachers behaving in this fashion--unconscionable is the word I would choose! They don't deserve the title "Teacher". Of course, if she confronts the teacher, he/she will deny it--I've seen that too! No one seems to believe the student in these cases. Or, more to the point--no one officially takes the student's side.

The role of teacher to some of them equals dictator. They use their power unwisely and prove their cowardice by attacking those who cannot defend themselves. And, by cannot, I mean are not able to by the restraints placed upon them by the schools and parents. Most of us require that our kids show appropriate respect despite the lack of it they often receive from teachers.

This is NOT directed at ALL teachers, merely the ones that behave as the ogre described above--several of my closest friends are teachers and they would NEVER condone this type of behavior.

 

[Shannon G]

Of course, if she confronts the teacger, he/she will deny it--I've seen that too! No one seems to believe the student in these cases. Or, more to the point--no one officially takes the student's side.

How about sending him to school with one of those mini-tape recorders hidden in his pocket - get the teacher n tape calling the student names before confronting her or going to her superiors. If she denies it - play the tape. If the parents really want to push the issue, they could threaten to go to the media with the tape if the teacher is not disciplined...

 

[Towncrier]

My son's kindergarten teacher once called him the "Um" boy because he hesitated when answering a question in class and started saying "um um um...". Apparently he had an answer, but the child that the teacher called on ahead of him gave the answer that he was going to use.

At the time, I was furious. I was afraid that by focusing on his "um's", DS might end up feeling self conscious and that it might effect him in the long run. We confronted the teacher (who played down the whole um-boy event) and it didn't happen again.

I would say that your friend Pam needs to contact the school and hear what her DS's teacher has to say. Perhaps there isn't any malicious-ness behind the teacher's name calling and it's just being done in the name of fun. Only if Pam's DS doesn't get the joke, his teacher should be made aware of this.

 

[glo]

I do not think it is acceptable or appropriate. I would talk to the teacher first and not be confrontational. First find out both sides of the story, and then sit and talk it out with the teacher. You never know when it has been a misunderstanding. Remember teachers are human too, and even though people hate to hear that, it is a fact of life.

 

[rbuzzotta]

That is terrible. I would confront the teacher. NO child she be talken down to at all by a teacher!!!! Yes, some may need to be reprimanded but to be insulted is another thing!!

I would be furious as a matter of fact, I am furious just reading this!! My child was "labelled" by her 3rd grade teacher with ADD/ADHD even though it was medically ruled OUT!! I had to remove my DD from that school!!! I would confront the teacher and if she denied it, I would ask for her/his explanation as to why the children are calling him "dum-dum". I wouldn't let this go..........it is just NOT right!!

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

OOOH, this makes me mad!!! That is totally unacceptable, and you can believe I would be marching right up to that school, first with the teacher and principle and then higher if I need to. AND I agree the teacher should apologize in front of the whole class, I would demand that!!!!!

 

[disykat]

Totally unacceptable. I had a prof in college who had nicknames etc. for students (he was a music prof and he had theme songs for students - whenever he was going to ask one student a question he would play Brahms Lullaby for example) and even in college I thought it was unacceptable. I'm sitting here getting angry just thinking about it. Many of the students found it funny -but they weren't the ones who were assigned names/songs. Although I wrote a pretty severe evaluation for him at the end of the semester, I still wish I had talked to him or the head of the department about it. (by the way I wasn't one of the worst being being on but it still made me very angry to see him treat people that way - I'm sure there are other kids in this class that are uncomfortable watching their friend being treated this way!)

Do NOT let this slip by. If she's not comfortable talking to the teacher she should go straight to the principal on this one. I'm all for letting kids solve their own problems, but this one needs an adult to step in.

 

[Liz]

That is really awful! I think the parents should have a heart to heart with the teacher and the principal.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Being a teacher myself, I was very hesitant to read this thread, but curiosity got the best of me. Just like in any other professions, there are good teachers and there are bad teachers. Unfortunately, it is the bad ones that a have a great influence on the child's self esteem. It is the exact reason I went in the teaching profession.
When I was in the 2nd grade, I had a teacher who taught my sister 5 years before. I would hear constantly how-"I was nothing like my sister". She would even flat out tell me "I would never amount to anything". This has been ingrained in my mind forever and I make it a conscious effort to treat all with respect and enthusiasm. Students take in everything that is said and insults could scar a child for life!
On another note, I also happen to be a parent. If you don't stick up for your children, no one will. So you, Pebblszzz, must be your childs advocate.

 

[SuiteDisney]

That teacher should be nicknamed "unemployed."

 

[Colleen A.]

I would definitely go to the principal...and not stop til she apologized and was reprimanded!

 

[aahmom1]

Poor baby, sounds to me like she needs to have a nice long conversation with the principal!!

 

[Bunchkin]

Originally posted by Towncrier

Perhaps there isn't any malicious-ness behind the teacher's name calling and it's just being done in the name of fun. Only if Pam's DS doesn't get the joke, his teacher should be made aware of this.

I respectfully disagree with the above statement. It is NEVER "fun" to call anyone names. And calling a child DUM DUM can be construed as nothing more than malicious. It is never a "joke" to call a child a mean spirited name. What else could she have possibly meant by calling him that??.....a DUM DUM SUCKER??

If this was one of my children both the teacher and possibly the principal would be getting a tounge lashing from me. This behaviour is totally unacceptable from someone who is supposed to be molding our children to become educated and responsible citizens.

And I agree that there should be a public apology in front of the other students.

How disheartening!!

 

[Kallison]

I won't even pass out Dum-Dums to my kids, only Smarties.

Sometimes teachers just mean to be funny and I'm in no way defending this behavior. My son had a friend named Timmy Rowe and the teacher always called him Timmy Row Row Row your boat. Well the other kids started calling him that too, and he did not find it amusing. She definitely needs to be "called on the carpet".

 

[Cinders]

At our last PTFO meeting (only about 10 female parents out of 590 students) the members all figured out we each had some sort of problem with the head of our cafeteria. We had several problems like not knowing lunch account balances, she sent a kid to the office because he took too much salsa, she yelled at a 1st grader for forgetting her lunch # (last year they used cards that they scanned but this year they expect the kids to have the numbers memorized), but the number one horror story was the 3rd grader that puked on the salad bar and she didnt close it to dump food and clean it......she merely wiped up the mess and left it open. The kid that was sent to the office told his mom so she confronted this lady (I use the term lady very loosely here) and she outright lied to her face saying her son must be making up stories...even though the office did confirm he was sent to the office. We gave our principal a list of 17 complaints and sent her an identical list too. She didnt change and the principal said through reviews it could take him 6 months to a year to either discipline her or get her to change so we took the matter into our own hands. We decided to boycott the lunch the Friday before springbreak but wouldnt you know the 2 main ladies in charge of the boycott were called into the principal's office to meet with him and our school systems superintendent where they learned this women decided to resign. There was more to the meeting but they arent allowed to comment on the rest of the meeting but she is gone!!!!!!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Nope, not an acceptable thing in the least. As a teacher, she should know better. I just started subbing, long-term, for my dd's elem. school librarian. As I finished reading a story today, the boys started acting up. I looked at the girls and said, and I quote...'Well, the girls are sitting here nicely, waiting for those stupid boys to stop acting up, so we can pick out our books.' As soon as the word stupid came out of my mouth, I almost died. Now, understand, I've been doing this for 2 weeks now. I was a sahm who volunteered in the library for 3 yrs. So, I'm not as careful (well, at least up to that point) about what comes out of my incredibly huge mouth. I quickly apologized to the boys, telling them that of course they were not stupid, not by any means. They accepted my apology and we went on. But, for a teacher to come out and call a pupil stupid is way out of line. It looks like this poor little boy has some self-esteem issues to begin with, making it even worse to be called a name by a teacher! I would speak to the teacher. If no satisfaction was given, it would be onto the principal. This should not just be dropped!!