punishment for saying "ma'am"
@sweetashoney (3597)
United States
August 25, 2018 12:59pm CST
A 10 year old from Tarboro, North Carolina was punished in class for saying "yes ma'am" to his teacher.
The parents said their son came home from school and showed them a sheet of paper, covered front and back with the handwritten word "ma'am."
According to the article, Apparently the teacher asked the student not to call her "ma'am," and when he did , she had him write the word repeatedly as punishment. The teacher then told him to take it home and have it signed by his parents. According to son.,the teacher also said "if she had something, she would have thrown it at him," The teacher later said she wasn't being serious.
The parents, called the teacher's actions inappropriate. They explained their son was raised to refer to elders as "sir" and "ma'am," and he was not being disrespectful.
his parents met with the teacher and principal to discuss the incident and requested their son be moved to a different classroom, to which the principal agreed. The parents want to make sure something similar doesn't happen to another child. His father said "If it happened to my son, I'm pretty sure if not a within week, a day, a month, or a year, it will occur to somebody else's child."
According to the school, the teacher in question has several years of experience. school officials released the following statement: "This is a personnel matter which has been handled appropriately by the K-7 principal."
I think I would have been just like these parents if this would have happened to one of my kids when they were attending school.
5 people like this
6 responses
@Courage7 (19626)
• United States
26 Aug 18
That makes me seriously enraged that that batch of a teacher did that to the innocent boy.
I got that once in a resturant where I was waiting tables, actually a hotel that was expensive..anyway a woman said do not call me Mam I said to her this Ókay well then you wont mind if I call you Sir"
1 person likes this
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
26 Aug 18
That is funny! lol That's like when I worked at a plant years ago, we called the person that brought our parts "service boys or girls. I called one of the men that one day and he said I am not a boy! I said well you sure not a girl are you lol
1 person likes this
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
26 Aug 18
@Courage7 yea, he didn't like that ether, he got so mad, I think if he could had he would have punched me. lol
1 person likes this
@Courage7 (19626)
• United States
26 Aug 18
@sweetashoney 
Yep that is the only thing you can say to someone like that..I think they are ridiculous..good for you too for saying that
Yep that is the only thing you can say to someone like that..I think they are ridiculous..good for you too for saying that1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
25 Aug 18
It looks like a tempest in a tea pot. The parents had certainly to meet the teacher to clear things, but meeting the principal, asking to remove the child from the classroom and calling the media for a sheet of paper with "Ma'am" ??? I tend to believe that teachers are professionals knowing their job, and I would certainly not have asked to have the kid moved to another classroom during a school year. A honest discussion straight in the eyes to understand what had really happened and fix the problem for the future, and that's all.
1 person likes this
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
25 Aug 18
I guess you would have to have been raised in the South to really understand why the parents got mad, that boy was being punished for using something that he had been taught to say out of respect. I myself think it was totally wrong for that teacher to make him repeatedly write ma'ma on the front and back of that paper. Just think of it this way, is there any word that you have been raised to use as a form of respect to your elders, if so, how would you fill if you were punished for using it?
1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
25 Aug 18
@sweetashoney I have been taught to obey to school teachers. The rule at home : 1) The school teacher is always right 2) if the school teacher is wrong, refer to 1.
I understand the problem here is a problem of basic politeness and there is a conflict between what is taught at home and what is taught at school. I would have met the teacher to reach an agreement, but I would not have obviously taken side for my children.
I speak to elders like I speak to everybody else, by using "vous" in French, which is a form of respect for the person you speak to. I use the familiar "tu" form only for family and a handful of close friends, but if I am in a job environment where the rule is to use the familiar form, I use it even if I find it wrong in many situations. At school like later in life we have to adapt to rules and follow them, even if we disagree with the rules...
This said I was not raised in USA, and I tend to support local traditions, so I cannot tell how I would react at your place.
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
26 Aug 18
@topffer I see what you are saying, yea, there is a difference in schools in the US. Schools were like that maybe 50 or more years ago, I do remember being taught that when you went to school you better do as your teacher said, they were like your parent while you were there and could even paddle you if you misbehave. But not anymore, most kids here are not taught that anymore and they sure aren't taught that the teacher is always right, if they think something is totally unfair, they have the right to talk to the principle about it or someone else. Oh this is what I was asking you earlier, so say you was still 10 years old and you used "vous" speaking to your teacher out of respect,and was punished for it, you would still think is right? It's a good thing I'm not punished every-time I say ma'am or sir, I'd be punished all the time! lol
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
26 Aug 18
i understand where the parents are coming from..and it is petty.but because she asked him to quit and he didn't,she retaliated.that's all it takes with some people.
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85923)
• Valdosta, Georgia
25 Aug 18
Reading stuff like this makes me so grateful I chose to Home School my children. That poor boy was being respectful and got punished for it!! So silly to me...and yet so many adults complain about disrespectful kids all the time. It sounds like she doesn't like her job anymore and probably should find another one?
1 person likes this
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
25 Aug 18
That's the way I look at it to, why punish him for something that a majority of Southerner's use as a for of respect. I think some people don't want to be called ma'am because they think their to young to be called that.
1 person likes this
@caopaopao (12395)
• China
26 Aug 18
The teacher is unreasonable to treat the child like this. It is easy to leave a shadow on the child.
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
26 Aug 18
Oh yes, by her actions, the child is being taught that sometimes being respectful will get you in trouble. That's a shame.
1 person likes this
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
25 Aug 18
I think she was way out of line, she should have been professional.
1 person likes this
@cintol (11261)
• United States
26 Aug 18
@sweetashoney yes she should have, sounds like she shouldn't be teaching children. I liked the part where she said she wasn't being serious. (Really, then why did you make him write it and take home for signatures.) Did she not think the parents would question it.
