to think teacher calling kids this is inappropriate?

[OWetOne]

My child(9) told me their teacher will call a child a wet wipe if the child is 'being a coward' (how my child explained it). My child wasn't offended and told me about it because they thought it was funny, but they obviously have never heard it being used before. I wouldn't want my child calling someone else a wet wipe.

Am I being a wet wipe? Or am I right to think this is inappropriate?

I think some parents forget that their kids teacher probably spends more time with the kids than their parents during a week. They have to build a relationship with the class, and will build up a unique dynamic with them that might mean a specific phrase taken completely out of context could be misinterpreted. You haven’t been explained the context it was used in, nor what the other concerns have been, which you hadn’t mentioned in your original post.

What would be most important to me is whether my child has a rapport with the teacher and are they learning.

No wonder so many of the younger people I work with are so soft.

I once had an accident at junior school involving a door. I felt bad. I was sat in assembly looking forlorn and told myself that I'm useless. A teaching assistant sat across from me overheard and agreed "Yes, you really are."

I'll take being called a wetwipe.

Yep. Circa 1975/76

I think you’ve gone a bit off topic. Why are you talking about discipline? In what context is calling a child a “wet wipe” a form of discipline? At best it’s gently making fun of someone, at worst it’s trying to ridicule or humiliate someone. Between adults/friends, it’s probably fine, between a teacher and a child, at the very least it sets a poor example. But in reality, it probably makes a more sensitive child feel a little worthless - oh and a lovely name for other kids to call them in the playground too. All endorsed by the teacher.

Do none of the “oh bored mums” “everyone is offended nowadays” crowd teach their kids to not call people names?

Oh it must be wonderful to be so perfect and never say anything in a clumsy way. If my DD came home and said I was called a wet wipe today I’d ask her if she was in fact being a wet wipe. ( She has a tendency to scream and run away from anything insecty which I think is classic wet wipe behaviour. ). I’m sure if I reported back every less than ideal comment that any of us said throughout your day I could come up with something to be offended about.

Ooo I'm wondering if we have children in the same class. We've had this very recently too in the school my child is in. I'm massively against it and find it inappropriate and belittling.

Hard agree!!

You have no idea of the context and are jumping to ridiculous conclusions, are we really wrapping our children in this much cotton wool these days? What are teachers allowed to say? I suppose little Johnny you really should try to do xyz would also be beyond the pale because he might find it difficult and that would be traumatising. A generation of snowflakes in the making.

You’re a wet wipe 😆

Bunch of permanently offended wet wipes commenting on here

How do children ever learn how to have a bit of good natured fun between friends if they don't see adults modelling it? Teachers are some of the most influential adults. Learning the difference between a bit of a joke, and what isn't a joke, is a vital part of growing up. People who can't take a joke, are generally boring and hard work to be around.

You are wood pulp rolled into a thin layer impregnated with aqueous solution and perfume would be more educational I suppose. Except it's probably made of un-compostable plastic threads.

It absolutely is, from what I can see.

I despair -until I remember that MN is a specialised bubble of society where snowflakes (aka wet wipes) congregate to clutch their pearls and gee each other up to complain about the most ridiculous things.
In real life, my experience is that most people have some common sense.

This is a message via a child too. Half of what kids say is made up, a good half of the rest is misunderstood or misremembered or embellished. You've no idea whether the kids being called wet wipes actually love it as a term of endearment. I'd put money on them really liking it, and the teacher knowing the kids in their class in a different way than their parents know them.

I worked in a school where the handbook said we were not to use sarcasm.
I guess it did make us more careful about where we used it - only where we were 100% certain that it would be understood and taken the right way.

ive never encountered a teacher that would take that without either telling the student off or giving them detention theres boundaries

not wet wipes at all - wet wipes In slang, "wet wipe" is often used as an insult or derogatory term to describe someone who is considered weak, easily influenced, or lacking in personal resilience. It is a way of belittling an individual by associating them with the fragility and disposable nature of a wet wipe. This derogatory meaning implies that the person being referred to is easily manipulated, unable to stand up for themselves, or unable to handle difficult situations.

Grow up you utter wet wipe

Says the person who cant debate without insulting people

this was reported yesterday why hasnt it been deleted people should be able to debate without being insulted

I thought it was a phrase from the Andrew Taite ‘manosphere’? Which would make me worry as to what this teacher is doing in terms of being a misogynist

And yes I know it’s a female teacher, but I would still not be happy with Andrew Tait - type language. DD’s primary school teacher called them all a bunch of horrible toads once when they were all being badly behaved, much more appropriate! (They WERE often a bunch of toads!)

Don’t be silly, the teacher did not get this from Andrew Tate.