Is this an acceptable thing to say?

[summerlovinggirl]

My DS (9, nearly 10) has come home from school today and asked what verbal diarrhoea is? I asked him why he would ask and he told me that his teaching assistant said that he was talking verbal diarrhoea when they were discussing the project that they’re all doing.
I’m not normally precious at all over things like this, but my gut reaction is it’s a really rude thing to say to a child.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m aware my DS can talk utter crap at times but to say it to him in that matter just sits wrong with me. At patents evening the other day, full time teacher said DS was very polite and always added good ideas and opinions within class.
So am I being silly to think anything of this or has the assistant been rude.

This thread is actually really depressing. All you people going on about 'inappropriate in a formal setting like a classroom' - have you actually stopped and thought about what it's like for a 10, 12 or 14 year-old to be talked to in a formal, non-light-hearted way all day every day by adults who they actually know pretty well and who are supposed to be in loco parentis, not in a rigid, etiquette-bound, adult employee-client relationship? Kids do not like overly formal teachers. There needs to be a bit of give and take, even a little bit of 'banter'. That's what makes hours of lessons bearable and enjoyable for teachers and pupils. And pupils who can engage with their teachers tend to learn more. The headteacher of my village primary school is an absolute hoot. He takes the mickey, is very direct and the kids adore him. He also can be strict when he needs to and gets great results. The parents love him too. He's the best primary head I've ever met, and I've met quite a few. He would absolutely not hesitate to say a child had verbal diarrhoea.

As an aside, I strongly suspect that male teachers get away with this kind of straight talking and jokiness much more easily than female ones. Unfortunately many parents seem to expect female teachers to be universally quiet-voiced, maternal and mollycoddling, and take offence if they are not.

I have just witnessed a teacher describing year 2 behaviour as disgusting. Not all teachers are jovial firm but fair types.

btw it was because they were lining up in a straight line.

Not lining up

Verbal diarrhoea - this surely refers to the constant flow of chatter, rather than its contents?

We are in danger of losing many expressions and colloquialisms if they are all taken quite literally.

I remember once I was in the launderette and had a bit of an altercation with a man about a dryer. He started losing his temper so I said, "Keep your hair on!" at which point he started getting really angry and saying I was insulting him. I then realised he was bald...

Parents need to stop this attacking teacher over everything.

. I personally don't like the term chatterbox either as they both mean shut up, I'm sick of listening to you.

I dont agree I think it is far more lighthearted a sentiment. He probably was talking too much and if the teacher had wanted to she could have said firmly "X please stop talking now" but she wanted to adopt a more familiar, gentler tone. She probably used the wrong phrase for his age group ( as he didnt know what it meant) but that is all she is guilty of.

Please dont complain!

.

How did your child take it when you told them off for not lining up?

Not all teachers are jovial firm but fair types.

I don't think anyone suggested they were. There are bad/not very nice teachers, just as there are bad/not very nice people in all jobs and walks of life. There are also well-meaning, professional, formal, polite but indescribably dull teachers.

Verbal diarrhoea - this surely refers to the constant flow of chatter, rather than its contents?

It does! It's an expression. Are people actually thinking it means someone is talking shit?!
Because if so they're completely wrong. You could be holding forth with a very intellectual conversation full of big and clever words, but still be suffering from verbal diarrhoea - it means the constant flow of chatter, absolute non stop, flows out like diarrahoea lol.

I remember once I was in the launderette and had a bit of an altercation with a man about a dryer. He started losing his temper so I said, "Keep your hair on!" at which point he started getting really angry and saying I was insulting him. I then realised he was bald...

OMG,actually did laugh out loud then. I'd have died! (Not literally, for the literal types on the thread.) The dying would have come after the face I'd have made after the penny dropped (metaphorical penny) and I'd have tried not to crack up (with laughter, not into broken pieces.)

I would not bring it up with the teacher, but I think it is rude and hurtful to say to a child.

I used to say, 'Not every word is a pearl.' My class knew that meant shut up.

Maybe the TA said, 'John's got a case of verbal diarrhoea today.' Who knows. Maybe she was at the end of her tether. OP just go marching in and complain. It'll change everything for the better.

It must be annoying when you've a kid who constantly blethers and you're trying to teach!

Can't be nice for child to have a teacher who insults them.

It's not an insult. It's a mild rebuke using joky terminology. Insults in classrooms tend to come from pupils, directed at other pupils or at the teacher.

Another vote for it just meaning chatterbox. To me it means talking a lot - I've never heard it used in the context of talking crap. I'm now thinking back to try and work out if I've ever offended anyone with it, or whether there were times I should have taken offence...

Anything associated with shit is insulting and vulgar when addressing someone, and diarrhoea has more than a passing association.

I suppose I can be seen as funny. If you happen to be 4.

As can be exaggerated sighs.

HeteronormativeHaybales But you seem reasonable. Unfortunately there's a reasonable (usually loud) minority who DO complain about everything.

I tend to use a little humour and light sarcasm with students if they get off task e.g. 'that sounds incredibly relevant ladies' / 'and how does what Sam is doing tonight link to the strife of our main character?' / 'you know boys I havr a feeling I have just said that but you weren't paying attention so no help for you for 5 mins'. Delivered with a smile and it's much nicer.

But still someome has complained once. Apparently I was 'failing in my duty as a teacher by being so dismissive of a personap situation'. Some girls had fallen out on social media and brought it into school. I shut the conversation down. It was crime of the century to snowflake parent.

As an aside, I strongly suspect that male teachers get away with this kind of straight talking and jokiness much more easily than female ones. Unfortunately many parents seem to expect female teachers to be universally quiet-voiced, maternal and mollycoddling, and take offence if they are not
This. This. This.
I had a student today say that they were surprised I was so nice because someonr else (who I've never taught) told them I was strict. I mean I am and I run a tight ship but I do it so we can all learn and get on. Seemingly strict female teachers get a reputation of being total ball breakers.

Seemingly strict female teachers get a reputation of being total ball breakers. I was one of these. I do not apologise.

I don't think it's a fantastically nice thing to say, but honestly - you would take this up with the teacher? How would it make you feel if every word or phrase you used at work was picked over and complained about? I genuinely don't know who would want to be a teacher in that environment.

derxa
Same.
I don't apologise for it either. I think it's telling that the teachers kids genuinely like the best (as opposed to like because they do sod all in the lessons and can chat) are the firm, fair and strict ones. They're the ones they want for GCSE.

Strict female teacher reputations are funny ones. We were talking about this today (which is how i heard about what someoje had said) and one of my students said they really like me and love my lessons but I'm quite scary and they're glad they don't see that side. I don't think they realise that comment made my day.

Teachers do seem to feel hard done by very quickly if it's suggested they have to think about their language: I wonder what they think it's like to work in a customer-orientated job. Do they reckon salespeople and waitresses and shop staff can just say what they like?

You do know that some teachers have actually done others jobs apart from teaching don't you? They're not this little band of people who have never worked in any other sector.

Whereas, most people who are offended by this term have never had to teach and manage 30 kids in one place at the one time. Teachers are also normal human beings with a sense of humour, something that seems to be sadly lacking in so many people these days ...

Being a teacher I may just have a giggle if you complained to me about this especially if you didn't even know what the term meant

There's a difference between being strict, and being rather rude though?
I think one way to assess whether something is appropriate in the classroom, is to look at whether the teacher would be OK with a child saying it to them? Because we generally try to teach kids by example, and shouldn't be trying to explain why its OK for the TA to say something, but not for the child to say it.

I would think it pretty rude of a child to remark that the teacher had verbal diarrhoea (but OK to say they have talked a lot today, or even 'you've been a chatterbox Miss'). So I think the TA was unnecessarily rude, tho not sure I'd pursue it with the school.