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?

Great term will adopt this in future! Thanks

Anasnake - why do you suggest I want blood? RTFT

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?

Teacher and Head have apologised. Unless you have any other reason for concern it sounds like a genuine mistake. As I’ve said, you weren’t there, you have no idea how she normally teaches or what kind of relationship she has with those students. I’d let it go and move on (monitor if you like).

I don’t think there is cause for alarm.

Because Catholics are Christians

Yes, but it's sort of like saying poodles and dogs are the same. All poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles.

I think if we want female centric terms to become more common then we have to start this at home. Schools have limited time and contact with children.
It’s well researched that children copy their parents first, then, as they get older, their peers.
If you want “find your ovaries”, “woman up” to become go to terms for your children then model them.
You’ve challenged the negative version. They’ve acknowledged it was wrong.
Changes like this take time, it will be at least a generation before impact is felt. Look how long it has taken to get the messages across about homosexuality (and even still gay is a derogatory term), binge drinking and smoking.
We each need to do our bit, sounds like you’re doing that, so is the school.

I'm just imagining the look on my wee Glaswegian mother's face if someone called her a c**t. It would go down like a lead balloon. I think you'd need to be pretty close pals to get away with that kind of 'banter' anywhere in the UK.

I agree ljdorothy you’d need to know your audience!

Where I am from in Scotland it's not as bad either. I didn't realise that it had a similar meaning to "c" word until I was about 30 like others and that was only when my friend a teacher moved down south and said to a boy in her class "stop being a twat" and the whole class gasped. She then shared the alternative meaning. It's just not so bad here. Also it means the same as a
Slap on the head or when you run into someone we would say twatted like on no i twatted the car.

Another who grew up hearing it frequently as a cross between twit and prat and not particularly offensive. It was just like saying "you idiot" or "you wally" (Midlands). I would have had no qualms saying it in front of my parents and probably also my grandparents.

Just asked DH from a different part of the midlands (top rather than bottom) and he says exactly the same.

I only discovered it was in some areas apparently on a par with the C word (which I would never ever use), a few years ago.

So I'm not surprised in the slightest at the explanation you've been given and it rings completely true to me.

I have have only ever known the word twat to mean daft/silly/eejit etc.

Yabu considering the context. I doubt he'll say it again!
Even in the U.K. there's a regional difference in how the word is used. David Cameron famously said it on the radio didn't he and defended it saying it was mild language and similar to twit. But where I come from it is firmly on a par with cunt!

I am British and I thought the word twat was just a variation on twit until I was in my 30s

Same here, except I was in my late 40s. It just doesn't sound rude imo.

When I was at school, our Latin teacher routinely called girls* who were being dim "silly arse". After the initial sniggers, we didn't think anything of it.

*this wasn't a sexist thing - it was a single sex school

Our teachers were like that 10 years ago when we were 15/16 always in jest.was part of treating us more grown up and less of a teacher. Whilst we still had to show respect for the teachers it was more of an adult communication

OMG! I am 49 and had no idea that’s what twat meant here! I thought it was the same as twit. Am foreign , though.

I don't think that twat being used instead of twit is regional. I've encountered people who are unaware of it's true meaning across the UK but I don't know any one region where it would be considered by the majority to be on a par with twit (currently living in the east midlands).

I grew up in the UK (now in my 30s) and twat was the same as twit or prat.

Didn’t find out the other meaning until coming in MN a decade ago.

From other comments ^ there are defo a sizeable number of people that don’t know about the cunt meaning.

My dad thought a “twat” was just a mixture of a twit and a prat until recently.

Can someone tell me what PurpleDasies American friend called someone? S**z?! I can't think of anything that fits

Oh shit, I've just figured it out - ignore me!

Twat was a perfectly normal way to describe a child being a bit silly when I was growing up.

Guess we should now make any word any one finds offensive illegal under the incitement to hatred laws and only allow children to be refereed to as precious snowflakes.

Amongst my friends "ah you twat" and "ah you cock" are fairly librably used and have been since we were teens occasionally "you fecking cock/twat" meaning you fool/ejjit.

However even knowing it in that sense I would still be fairly horrified if a teacher said it in any meaning to a pupil it's not appriote! A pupil is not the teachers best friend who knows it's a joke.

However you've got an appolgy leave it there.

In that context, no, it's not acceptable.

Steff, all Catholics are Christians. Christianity has many subdivisions, Catholicism being one of them.

Before I even got to the bit about the teacher bring Australian I was wondering if they were Aussie!

I worked with someone who called a pupil that in jest thinking it meant the same as twit. The class seemed to realise the teacher didn't know because they were in hysterics.