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Teacher swearing at pupils!!!

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confused79 | 15:45 Wed 12th Sep 2007 | Society & Culture
18 Answers
sorry if in wrong seciton wasn't sure where to put.
My son started secondaty school last week. And has been loving it. When he had his first PE lesson (he loves sports by the way) his teacher was speaking about what they would be doing in the term but didnt actaulyl do PE. My son said he was talking abit through the lesson and got asked to stand up where then the teacher called him a 'little sh1t'. Also he was swearing a bit in the lesson- not my son the teacher. My son said its ok mum PE teachers are allowed to swear. Obviously i said no teacher should be swearing at pupils. My ex rung the school and we are not excepting it, head of year spoke to my ex said she woudl speak to this teacher, he is now denying it, although he did it in front of the whole class and another boy we know confirmed it did happen. My son is not a trouble maker and has not even said he doesnt like the teacher. I think he thought it was acceptable in senior school. Now my ex is going up the school as this teacher is denying it and feels teachers should not be swearing at kids. Now i am a bit worried that this teacher will single out my son for being a grass!! what can i do im worried for my son.
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It is totally unacceptable behaviour from a teacher.

Respect has to be earnt.
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exaclty in other word if thekids swear its ok then , kids lead by example, now im just so worried about my son, being singled out cos he spoke up.
Why does respect have to be earnt?

Why dont you just treat everyone with respect and then they can only lose your respect.
The children will watch any new teacher and make up their opinion on them from their actions, words and demeanour.

The teacher cannot assume that they command respect simply because they have the title teacher.

Just like all of us, teachers have to prove themselves to gain respect.

Without realising it they can be role models for the children they are responsible for. What sort of example is this foul mouthed one setting?
I agree Reverand, you shouldn't have to earn respect!!

I respect everybody until I'm given a reason not to!!
Just monitor things closely, I expect the teacher will have a talking to (if he did this to a year 7 so soon in the year I imagine it's not the only complaint that has come up about him) and the school should make it clear to him that your son mustn't now be singled out. Keep an eye on it, try and ensure your son is happy to go to his PE lessons, if you do notice any problems then make another complaint. If you don't feel the school responded well to the initial complaint of swearing complain to the governors instead.

I'm sure there won't be a problem though. Good luck
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You are right, which now my son wont respect him for being called a 'little sh1t' at end of the day he is a 11 year old boy,
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thank you tiny e.a good idea about the governors i will keep that in mind, just worried about them not beleiving him.
Panic - Exactly what do we have to prove to gain respect??

Confused - I agree with you he has now lost respect because of a good reason.

Once you or your ex has made a complaint the school has to deal with the parent not the pupil so whether they believe him or not it shouldn't affect how he is treated in school.

Things like this are horrible but try not to be intimidated by the school, you have evey right to make this complaint and shouldn't allow him to get away with it just out of fear that your son will come off worse. This'll probably all blow over quite smoothly, but make sure you know exactly what you want from the complaint, an apology/a disciplinary for the teacher/a promise from the school that it will not happen again. Knowing what outcome you would like will help to stop things blowing out of proportion and also stop you being fobbed off by the school.
I'd agree that it's unacceptable, whether or not it is actually that serious as to warrent letters to the school and involving the board of governors is another matter.

A lot of this sort of thing is very dependant of context and really I guess it depends on how aggresive and intimidating the event was and as none of us were there that's hard to know.

Still that's kind of water under the bridge now as your ex seems to have set the ball well and truely in motion so I'd suggest you provide a united front to the school.

Personally I'd suggest that you (with your ex's agreement) tell the school that you don't want some sort of grovelling appology from the teacher but if the school just tells you that they've had a word that you'll be happy and hopefully it'll all settle down.
Its unacceptable for a teacher to be swearing at kids but equally as unacceptable for your kid to be talking all the way through when presumably he wan't meant to be. Hope you gave him a good telling off.

To a certain extent you have to earn respect but a kid going to school should have enough respect and manners to listen to teachers in lessons. The whole "you have to earn respect" argument gives kids the excuse to be disrespectful to people who they need to be listening to.
Look - the top and tail of it, is that this teacher was well out of order. Parents SHOULD speak up when something like this happens. Complain to the Head of Year, the Head Teacher and the Governors. Threaten to contact the LEA if this teacher isn't brought in to explain himself, and insist on an apology. I've also had to fight my corner for my two son's sakes, but with calm and steely reserve. If you go steaming in, you won't get results, but if you insist on some action, you'll gain a lot of respect from other parents. If you all work together, you can turn things around, as I did.
An eleven year old talking during lesson, though disobedient, is quite a regular occurance and something that teachers are trained to beable to deal with without swearing. It is no where near as unacceptable as a teacher swearing at a pupil.
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This is my poitn exaclty, im not condoning for a minute that my son was right in takling whilst the teacher was at all.

But other teachers deal with it without swearing i know i can never remember teachers swearing at school and if they did my mouth would have hit the floor, it was unheard off.

And update on the saga, my ex not letting it drop as now the teacher denies it, waiting for a call back from head of year, she sais no other pupils haev complain which is now to me seems she thinks my son is lying.
My son was told the teacher denied it and he said 'but he did say it the whole class heard him'.

I have no doubts that my son is not tellign the truth, he just wouldnt do that. I think the head of year should speak to the whole class and ask them.
Have you asked yourself what you want to get out of this situation?

An appology? or have your son move class? or have the teacher sacked?

These things can deteriate into matters of pride in which nobody wins

Having a clear idea of what you want is always helpful.

Everybody here seems to be going on about what is and is not acceptable but there's a matter of perspective.

Nobody would think it acceptable that a teacher would drop litter in the playground but if I saw it happen I wouldn't charge into the school and report it and I doubt you would either.

Keep at it but don't let it get out of hand, your son won't thank you for it if it becomes a fued
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its not me intiating it its my ex, personally i dont want it goign too far, im just worried the head of year will label my son as a trouble maker which he isint.

My ex's point is the teacher is a person in authority and he stood my son up in front of the class and called him it.

I personally woudl rather let the teacher know that we dont feel its acceptable, and leave it. Then hope he dont do it again, if he does then i would take it furhter
It is likely your son thought that he was in a grown up world and should deal with it. That is a life lesson in itself. No doubt he has heard similar or worse at home or in the street, and he seems to have shrugged it off.

I think you may be right. You could have asked to speak to the teacher in person rather than potentially publicly tarnishing their career, unless of course they deserve it. But a gentle reminder to the teacher might have been the best initial way and if your son maintains what he heard and the teacher denies it, then take it to the Dept Head, and then escalate it if nothing gets done.

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