To be alarmed that teacher called a child a 'twat' in school?

[khaleesi71]

I'm not in the UK but a European country. DS (11) tells me that in his English class two students were discussing religion and what the difference was between Christianity and a Catholicism. Teacher says to children, "they are both the same you twat". Another student asks a follow up question and teacher turns to them and says "do you want me to call you a twat as well?". I was and dispatched an email to HT asking her to look into it. HT comes back to me to say teacher is very sorry she said that. The teacher is Australian and where she comes from it is a 'polite form of teasing' and they use the word a lot. She did not mean to cause offence. We have spent a fair bit of time in Aus and DS went to school there. We never heard it used in that way! I think it's a disgrace that a teacher uses derogatory terms for women in a class and think it normalises that sort of language but AIBU?

Even if you believe the explanation since when is it appropriate to tease children in the classroom. They go to school to learn not be teased.

I've just attempted to say "twit" in an Aussie accent. Sounded a bit like "twat".

My mum did this in the UK. She honestly thought it was the same as twit. The children knew her well, she was a very highly thought of teacher. No one pulled her up on it, but she was mortified when she realised the difference 😳.

jenny I’m a teacher and I tease and ‘banter’ with my students regularly. They know me and I know them. We know our limits. Children go to school to learn, this includes subject learning, but also how to socialise and build appropriate relationships. My students respect me because of the relationship I have with them; they behave because of our excellent relationship.
Teachers are famed if we do and famed if we don’t.

I also used the term as a very mild insult on a par with twit when I was growing up (Notts) - I even said it in front of my mum.

It was only when I went to uni and my new friends looked a little when I called them a twat in a friendly way that I started to appreciate others didn't quite see the word in the same lighthearted way I did.

he teacher is Australian and where she comes from it is a 'polite form of teasing' and they use the word a lot

No it isn't, no they don't.

Was the teacher my mum? She thinks "twat" means just the same as "twit".

I have a Scottish friend (Glasgow) and she told me to call someone a cunt is fine.

It's really, really not. I wouldn't suggest trying it.

Bakedbeans Me too , and i use it all the time.

Some folk do use ya cunt as both salutation and punctuation
Depends where in Glasgow you’re from and circles you move in

I am Australian, I have lived in most states in Australia and have never once come across it as anything but rude and disrespectful. Teachers don't call kids that here either, I never once was called that at school (went to multiple schools in multiple states) and my kids never have either.

Not fussed about the word, but find the method of teaching questionable.

OP if she had referred to him as an idiot, would you have been ok with that?

Oops!
I had an American teacher who (in my school abroad) told my British head teacher that I'd spent the whole half term 'shagging' my boyfriend. She thought it meant kissing and was joking around...both myself and the head went a nice shade of red

I used to work with someone from Jamaica she was always calling people Twats it wasent that rude there apparently more like Twit? Also I had a manager from Nottingham and she said she had to be told that Twat was highly offensive in Manchester it wasent where she was from apparently ...

Students can be daft original, so can I. We often call each other out for it. I call them lemon, or if what they’ve said is particularly nonsensical then they’re the whole fruit salad. They think it’s great, we have a good time in lessons and not one of them feels uncomfortable putting forward their ideas. In fact sometimes it’s hard to move the lesson on they’re so full of things to say. This is true of every year and class I teach

I am proud of how comfortable my students are with me. I had three year 7’s stay behind after class yesterday (into their lunch break) because they wanted to talk about problems they were having, these ranged from parents rowing to anger management issues.
We have no idea what went on in that classroom, how the teacher usually teaches and what her relationship is like with her students. It’s not fair to judge on a quick third hand snapshot n

The head and she have apologised. I wouldn’t sweat it.

Originalfoogirl - why would I find idiot OK? It's a derogatory term and if it's used in a classroom to deride mock a child then it's not acceptable. Not sure what you're driving at really.

Jenny

I agree with Your Daughter ; as a teacher you have to teach 'appropriate' social skills and gentle teasing/humour are part and parcel of this.
A good example of this is when you're confident a kid actually knows the answer to a question they're asking (they often do this because, although they do know the answer, they lack confidence).
If I give them the correct answer, straight, it's perfectly ok but not memorable. But if I give a totally off the wall response, they suddenly realise that they do know the answer and, more importantly, they'll remember - because it was mildly amusing (and that it was them that did the brainwork work, not me).
Of course, you can only do this if you have the trust of the child first, but it's a very effective way of reinforcing self-confidence.

Kid: What's 2+2?
Teacher: 70 Squizzillion!
etc

With 30 years of experience, I think I can say with confidence that the best teachers use a lot of positive humour.

It's done, she's apologised, do you want blood ? Move on.

It's vulgar and cursing. I'd feel the same if she called the kids "dick". I don't like rude words, unprofessional.

Doesn't anyone else find it empowering that people of either gender can be called unholy horrors by referring to cunts & twats? At last, cunts & twats are as tough as dicks and balls. Not derogatory to women when used that way.

I would be happy with the approach by yourdaughter as it's based on mutual respect. It was not clear that this was the case.

Yes where I come from in England, Twat has two meanings, one is to hit, the other is a jokey, almost affectionate response, like Twitter, but much more jokey, what you'd say to someone if they were messing around and you were having a giggle together.
I was surprised to find when I moved down here it's considered bad.
Australia's a pretty big place. I suspect there's regional variations over there as well.

Continuing... More like silly sausage than any of the other suggestions here.

In your situation I would conclude that the teacher is fairly new to the profession and has learnt their lesson. I wouldn't worry about it further.

Llijkk - interesting point which I suppose looks to reclaim usage.

Colleagues were talking about this recently when frustrated by the term 'man up'. Why when you have to be tough can't we use use better female-centric terms?

MNers have talked about "find your ovaries!" to face a challenge.