to think that schoolchildren should be called pupils and not students?

[specialsmasher]

Just bothers me. Not sure when 'student' started to be the common term for a schoolchild, but I don't like it.

is it an americanism....student

i prefer student for secondary and upper school...

really? I don't. Sixth form would be the cut off for me.

I think it's American. Just as they say, "I want to go back to school" meaning university

I'm used to it now, doesn't faze me anymore

Even though I use the term as it's expected, I can't quite get used to it - I reckon you should be called a student when tou have selected something to study - not just because you are being taught stuff at school.

Obviously, it doesn't bother me THAT much - does a bit though!

Yanbu. I prefer 'pupil' until college starts then they can be called students.

Mind you, I don't like this new fangled nonsense about pre-school either. Its playschool .

It's part of the same shite as telling 14 year olds that they're "young adults". Er, no, you're not...

It's like when train companies started calling passengers "customers", except when there was a fatal crash when they reverted to "passengers". Obviously v bad form to kill customers, whereas "passenger" somehow sounds less familiar.

Another one - "Small people." Bleugh and double bleugh. They're children. Just say the word.

I completely agree.

And as for 14 yr olds being called "young adults" just don't get me started. Why are they not "older children"?

YANBU - pupils started to be called students when I was a newly qualified teacher, and I hated it, having just been a student myself.

should be pupils up to 6th form IMO

passengers = customers
customers = clients
patients = service users

drives me insane!

I'm so glad I'm not BU!

I honestly think it has a deal to do with the over-developed sense of entitlement evident these days...

It's weird, isn't it? On the one hand we infantilise our children, not letting them do all sorts of stuff that we ourselves did, and on the other we use words to describe them that make them sound more grown up.

I say pupils/children up to about 14 and students/young people after that. Though some depends on whether I 'see' the child as older or younger

In my school children are still refered to as pupils!

I always call schoolchildren pupils

I wasn't aware that they should now be called students

God yes, so bloody irritatiing, as is penchant where i live to send everyone who is over 16 to 'college'.

They're kids! And lots of them would be a lot bloody happier in school.

Oh, my local college is full of kids who wouldn't attend school. They're not much better at college attendance, but because so many are under 18 all the staff had to be police checked.

My gym has classes (aerobics and wotnot) for young adults. 8-13yo . Personally I think when you are in school being taught stuff you are a pupil and when you at university studying stuff you are a student. A levels are a bit of a grey area.

Friend of mine called mother and toddler group 'little school' and nursery 'big school'. I always thought her ds had nothing to look forward to somehow.

I would love it if dd's school called the children pupils or students. They call them 'learners' which sends me into a rage every time I see/hear it. Dd had a form to fill in yesterday which referred to teachers as 'learning providers'. Arghh, how can that be? You can provide children with teaching/education, the learning part they have to do themselves.

that's dreadful

I bet the teachers hate it too

Our local college is one step away from a borstal, no way are any of my DC going there !

Re "college" after 16, I'm a bit divided on this, having had a really positive experience of 6th form college for Alevels.

Where i lived, none of the state schools had 6th forms. They all just fed into one 6th form college which was where you did your A-levels, or there was another college where you did Btecs etc.

I think it's a good step between school and University/work as you are constantly reminded that

• you dont have a legal obligation to be there so it's up to you to motivate yourself.

-No-one is going to chase you for coursework etc. If it's not there, you get zero. End of. If you fail your first year exams the college desnt pay for your Alevel entry fees.

• You have certain priviliges that go with that- we were allowed to wear own clothes, smoke outside (this was when smoking was legal at 16), drive ourselves to college etc, only had to attend for lessons etc).

I found it a good way of bridging from school, where everything was very enforced, to Uni, where I did a research based course with only 1 hour of compulsary contact time a week and relied on self motivation and organisation.

I also think the teaching was better because many teachers with a strong academic bent do have a preference for A-level only teaching.

YABU - why do you even care?

According to educational jargon all should now be referred to as 'learners' as pupil is a passive term. Not sure why student is out though.

The new school down the road had posters up before it opened with quotes from "pupil-clients"

I'm being unreasonable because I shouldn't care? I'm sure there's a logical point there somewhere. Or maybe that's two separate points?

As I said before, I don't care that much, but do think there's a link between an unhelpfully strong sense of entitlement, and the status-loaded changes of terminology in education.

Sixth form is a different matter, I agree.