AIBU to be a bit shocked at this teacher

[Canshopwillshop]

My DS has come home with a list of spellings for English homework. One of them is the word ‘August’ for which the teacher has broken down into a nice memorable ‘All Ugly Girls Use Spot Treatment’! I feel this is totally unacceptable and a terrible message to put across to young kids.

Surely it's the beautiful girls who have used the spot treatment...

If you don't pull teachers/people up on this sexist bullshit, then it drips insidiously into their ears and attitudes and you end up with people saying 'it doesn't bother me'

Exactly. Bloody awful. YANBU or overreacting.

All ugly girls use spot treatment, but not all spot treatment is used by ugly girls.

I agree with you. Ghosts or ghouls would be better.

Every good boy deserves fudge.

Never Eat Shredded Wheat (points of a compass)

It’s not super cool and relaxed to not give a shit about the small instances of sexism that feed into the much bigger picture. It just makes you part of the problem and clearly unable to see you’re part of the problem

Yep. It's an attitude that infuriates me. It often comes with a 'meh' just so we all know just how cool the don't-give-a-shit-about-sexism people are.

An
Ugly
Grotty
Unessecessary(full new ball park!)
Stupid
Twat
if you dont like it-make some noise...

OP has said it's not about sexism. Other people have assumed that is what she meant. It's about making children feel bad during puberty, which is more understandable given that it is year 7 pupils.

Boring
Remainers
Envisaging
Crazy
Kinds (of)
Silly
Imaginary
Taunts

Well
All
Nice
Kids
Evade
Rotten
Sentiment.

@anasnake
My mantra was colourist. Every Green Bus Drives Fast. Still use it but only because the buses round here aren't green...

Also, in my 20s I made a t shirt that read
I'm
F*cked up
Insecure
Neurotic
Emotional

(I'm fine)

My mum hated it as it was too close to the truth!!

OP has said it's not about sexism. Other people have assumed that is what she meant

That doesn't mean other posters won't pick up - and be critical of - the insidious sexism.

This would piss me off. My 13 year old is convinced she is ugly, she has self esteem issues and she uses spot treatment.

The acronym is unnecessary and reinforces negative feelings kids may already have. Yanbu.

@sugarhunnyicedtea - thank you, that’s exactly why I am a bit annoyed. I didn’t want to say he is Year 7 because I knew people would jump on the easiness of the spelling for that stage 🙁 DS struggles a lot with English and is in bottom set.
A few people have said not to complain but I never said I was going to, nor do I intend to. Just thought I’d see what you lot thought!

I’m rarely offended, but I really think this is inappropriate. I wouldn’t ever do this as a teacher, and I would actually discuss this with the school.

I don't think that even a throw away suggestion that girls (or boys) with spots are ugly is accpetable when teaching teens (or any age, but especially teens who often have spots) some of those children will have severe acne and feel lousy enough about it already without it being immortalised in a mnemonic.

And it is stupid and unnecessary - there are umpteen different things you could make up to learn to spell August (or just learn to spell it without the aid of a mnemonic).

Why do people come on these thread and give utterly different examples that completely miss the point of the OP. The elephant example - how obtuse can you be ? How can you not see that your example bears no connection to the one in the OP ?

And then doing the usual MN favourite - going completely off topic. A load of knicker twisting garbage about 'never mind the sexism why can't your DS spell August OP'. Really ? That is what you what you have to contribute, something completely irrelevant ?

I have no idea why some teachers (and I come from a family of teachers so no axe to grind) use these lazy unimaginative examples with no thought of their audience. So easy to be sensible and not upset anyone.

Yeah, totally ridiculous. Ugly girls eh, firing line again, thanks.

Are all words broken down like that? Surely that's harder to remember than the word itself?

Absolutely unacceptable on every level, and very poor judgement by the teacher!

All lols isn't it until YOU have the 11 year old who is suffering with acne.

I'd be taken aback by this OP. Ignore the twatty comments on here and mention it to the teacher. No need for all guns blazing but worth flagging up

Bangin - precisely.

If it had happened when I was at school then those that bullied me would have turned round and asked why I didn’t use it.

I’m very thin skinned (figuratively). It would have floored me.

But that’s what being a kid has is all about apparently. Survival of the most confident?

August

Always use great underwear shiny too

If you don't pull teachers/people up on this sexist bullshit, then it drips insidiously into their ears and attitudes and you end up with people saying 'it doesn't bother me'.

Yep!!

YANBU. This is not ok. And those who think it is are part of the problem (as are their children)

A- harmful sexist shite
B- crap as a mnemonic as has nothing to do with August.

@Canshopwillshop I actually don't think August is a particularly easy word to spell. I'm still a little shocked that it has been sent home as a spelling but I apologise for jumping to conclusions.
I think a quiet word at school is probably a good idea. This wouldn't bother my son at all but he does have some friends who would be extremely anxious and embarrassed by it