Should students call teachers by their first names?

It is becoming a common practice in some locations to call teachers by their first names. This has long been the practice with very young children in nursery school or kindergarten. Those tots are not yet used to the concept of sitting in a class with a teacher, and they relate to people in the easiest possible way. Similarly, children of any age in special education classes may sometimes call their teachers by their first names.

However, is there justification for allowing normal children in more advanced classes to call teachers or principals by their first names?

Use the title and surname

There are clear benefits to using a teacher's last name.

• It gives the teacher a distance. That distance is important in order to teach. It reminds the students that the teacher is not his friend, although students and teachers may become friendly. Teaching does require that the student understand his place and realize that the teacher has his place.
• It affords the teacher a modicum of respect. Children should learn to look up to the teacher's superior knowlege, information or status. A last name promotes the formality that is needed in the teacher-student relationship.
  What happens, however, when children hear another teacher come into the room and call the teacher by the first name?
  No problem. In fact, this may be the best time for children to learn that teachers can indeed call each other by their first names. However, students are not the teachers' peers, so they must use a more formal manner of address.

This issue of informality is becoming more and more commonplace throughout the world, and the result might be less satisfactory than is desired. It is exacerbated when children call their parents and other superiors by their first name. They may not be able to distinguish between those situations and their classroom.

In such cases it may be necessary to explain to the child that classroom requirements differ from those at home, and that they are required to follow your requirements in school. They may be told that when they return home they can act as their parents recommend, request, or suggest.