Teachers comment about 'concentration camp' (secondary school)

[JacobsAngel]

A teacher at my child's school, known for their passive aggressive attitude (and boring lessons-relevant) made a comment to the class and said " you're not in a concentration camp" aibu to think this is inappropriate?

Apparently the class were unenthusiastic and unresponsive (and probably bored) to the way the lesson was being delivered so the teacher tried to, well not quite sure what they were trying to get the class to do by saying what they did as all they got back were confused looks and whispers.

My child wasn't the only one to say, after the class had dispersed, they felt it an inappropriate comment.

Ironically the class have been studying the Holocaust in a different subject class so are well aware of what a concentration camp was, hence the startled looks from some of the children and hushed comments.

Should something be said to the school or view it as a faux pas by a teacher who really should engage their brain before they open their mouth?

[Dipitydoda]

And this is what is wrong with kids today. Shocked, horrified and outraged over complete non issues. You’d be better off helping your child to engage in the relevant lesson (hopefully they won’t be demanding their workplace is enthralling an captivating and can work through boredom) and learning the difference between a turn of phrase and bigotry. Kids need to learn to work within set perimeters regardless of whether the little cherubs find it captivating or not!

[Dipitydoda]

And I do find it strange that people of my parents and grandparents generation who lived through the wars would have thought nothing of saying it’s like a concentration camp yet a bunch of pearl clutching MNers and subsequently their kids get so outraged.

[Mrsmadevans]

Can't see they did anything wrong tbh, it wasn't even a 'faux pas' as far as I can see OP . Nor out of context YADBU!

[HarrietSmith]

I posted the link above as my great-aunt was a survivor of Theresienstadt.

I suspect I think that a lot of us think we know about the Shoah but it was a complex series of events.

I think the point I wanted to make was that the school at a concentration camp was held clandestinely to give the children there some kind of normality in conditions that were far from normal. It was an example of the way in which those who were oppressed attempted to take care of the youngest and most vulnerable members of the community.

There were no 'schools' at camps in which Nazi teachers barked questions at children who were too cowed to respond.

[WickedGoodDoge]

I wonder how the OP would have reacted to DS’ English teacher who blurred out in exasperation one lesson, “For fucks sake, it meant he was having a wank!!!!!”

Fortunately, for the teacher, she has a class with a sense of humour and everyone burst out into peals of laughter.

[Candyandpop]

More and more, we take extreme offence at the smallest slight.

That comment was off for sure, but it was probably just an off the cuff comment, that he probably said with out realising. Or we some times say stuff with out engaging our brains. it happens.

Jeeez, lets be a bit easier on one another!

[Anasnake]

ffs

[strangerhoesagain]

You’re the parent everyone hates.

[SpareASquare]

known for their passive aggressive attitude (and boring lessons-
Apparently the class were unenthusiastic and unresponsive (and probably bored)
all they got back were confused looks and whispers
startled looks from some of the children and hushed comments
a teacher who really should engage their brain before they open their mouth?

The above says all I need to know about YOU and your child and makes me care not one bit about what this teacher did or didn't say. You are every teachers worst nightmare OP and I have no doubt you encourage your child to follow your path. But whilst you're bitching about the teacher with other parents and children(and the your own words make it crystal clear you do just that) , I'm sure they're chuckling about YOU in the staffroom so please, by all means, tell the school how you feel. I get the impression they'd be well used to it

[SusanBunch]

Can I check something. Are we allowed to mention ANY atrocities at all in a casual sense?
Can way say something like 'it's not like you're in the trenches'? The trenches were horrible places and so many died or were injured there. Including many relatives of today's children. It could be very triggering.
I also might find it super-disrespectful if people casually throw around the phrase 'world war three' when describing an argument. What kind of message does that send out about the experiences of those who died in WW1 and WW2?
Also heard someone describing the storm the other day as a 'hurricane'. NO it is not a hurricane and it's disgusting to compare your roof tiles falling off to what the people in New Orleans went through. Check your fucking privilege.
Have also heard someone casually throw around the word 'tsunami'. Erm where do I start? Similarly describing someone else as 'Hitler'. Hello???

[SusanBunch]

The above says all I need to know about YOU and your child and makes me care not one bit about what this teacher did or didn't say. You are every teachers worst nightmare OP and I have no doubt you encourage your child to follow your path. But whilst you're bitching about the teacher with other parents and children(and the your own words make it crystal clear you do just that) , I'm sure they're chuckling about YOU in the staffroom so please, by all means, tell the school how you feel. I get the impression they'd be well used to it

Yup, pretty much. If I were the OP, I would be more worried about the way I spell the word 'definitely' than anything else in this situation.

I just watched the Bridget Jones film where she goes to the Christmas party and her mum says 'Bridget, you look like you just walked out of Auschwitz'. I was hyperventilating so much because of #triggering but just about managed to put my finger on the remote and turn it off.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Concentration camps have been around longer than the Nazis. It is a massive leap to assume the teacher was referring to holocaust victims.

Wiki link explaining first modern concentration camps were established to imprison native Americans a century before Dachau. Dachau was the first German concentration camp, which didn’t just house Jews. It was not an extermination camp. simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_camp

Hope you paid a lot for your pearls.

[WickedGoodDoge]

I think teachers should have a big meeting with all the parents at the start of each school year so the parents can outline their rules for the teachers.

Would save so much upset and offence, don’t you think????

[HarrietSmith]

I think my main concern was that the teacher might well be misinformed about the Shoah.

It's possible she had some vague knowledge of the 'Appel's which took place in camps, and was trying to tell her students she wanted a more active response.

www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-final-solution/auschwitz-birkenau/roll-call-and-routines/#.WmMCVahl8dU

However, it is really odd that Mumsnetters who will feel so readily moved by, say, a tabloid story about a sick child, will want to jeer at anyone who dislikes casual ill-informed references to genocide.

If my daughter came home with such a story, I would contact the school politely to say that while I quite understood that a teacher might get frustrated with an unresponsive class, that I didn't think it was an appropriate way to express that frustration. I'd also explain my daughter's own family background.

(An older cousin who my mother spent childhood summers with, got married and had a small son. The cousin, his wife and child were murdered at Auschwitz.)

[Emilybrontescorsett]

I'm also wondering how nice it would be to teach in a secondary school where the most offensive thing someone can say is this.

It's not great but he/she hadn't said you should be put on a fucking concentration camp you **

At dd1s secondary school a pregnant teacher was punched in the stomach by a 15 year old boy, now that's something to be offended about.

[grasspigeons]

I think the teacher was highlighting how nice their lives were by comparison. So the sentiment is still concentration camps are bloody awful.

It wasn't the most sensible thing to say but I'd let it go.

[SideOrderofSprouts]

And this is one reason that so many teachers quit.

[Deadlylampshade]

I’m not seeing how it was I’ll informed harriet the teacher was inferring that some people have had it worse and for the pupils to get a grip. There was no suggestion of what happened in the camps.

[PurpleRobe]

Over reaction

[Piggywaspushed]

harriet I do take your pint but I think pigeons above summarises a teacher's intent in making this kind of comment.

Lots of schools do a great deal to highlight the Jewish experience in WW2 (and beyond). The OP's child was clearly having history lessons on it, my school runs a trip to Poland including Auschwitz and the wonderful Ziggi Schipper comes to speak to year 9 every year. I am sure the same sort of stuff happens in all schools.

[noblegiraffe]

Class has teacher that they don't like ('boring' 'passive aggressive') so seeks to get them into trouble. A comment that would have been completely unremarked-upon from the lips of a favoured teacher is leapt upon with a 'you can't say that!' Not because the kids are actually offended, but because it disrupts the lesson and it is funny to wind up the teacher.

This is very common.

[Piggywaspushed]

Point obviously not pint : far too early for that.

[Onceuponatimethen]

Harriet, I’m so glad I’m not the only one.

I think it is a tasteless comment. I’m sure none of us would think it was acceptable to say ‘at least you aren’t being murdered, raped or tortured’. Rightly that would be seen as tasteless and pretty appalling.

And I’m not sure some comments on here are very well informed. My great grandfather died in a holding camp. He had two children who never recovered from their experiences in the war. His daughter killed herself as a young adult.

Doubt my own grandfather who died in the 80s would think this was just a little comment if he were here now for me to ask him.

[Emilybrontescorsett]

Oh and i have said to constantly moaning students who have been sent to school by their parents so therefore well enough to be in school, but who won't stop moaning to me that ' I don't feel well, I've got a sniffle,"
I have said "you havn't been shot in a war" my great uncle was killed whilst fighting in a war. He was 19 and it was heartbreaking for his family.
I suppose I'm wrong to say this but listening to students moaning when there is absolutely nothing I xan do about it and often I feel like shot myself having caught all of their germs just annoys the hell out of
you.
Note I've only said this after explaining ( many times) that I can't do anything at all to make their sort throat/sniffles go away and that if their parents think they are well enough to be at school then that decision is final.

[SusanBunch]

Harriet I really don't think so and I think a parent giving a helpful history lesson to a teacher who made the comment is nearly as bad as someone making a complaint. I understand that it's an emotive subject for you BUT firstly concentration camps are not exclusive to the Nazis as someone pointed out. Could have been a reference to camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina for instance. And secondly, the teacher said nothing that was disrespectful. Had they said something that amounted to belittling the experience of camp inmates or something like holocaust denial, that would be a different kettle of fish. This really is not in that category.

Would you be offering similar history lessons to people who say 'eat your food, there are people starving in Sudan' or 'be grateful you have a roof over your head, there are people being blown to bits in Syria'? Those statements are also a bit stupid but like the teacher's one, they are not disrespectful to people who have been through that experience.