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NakedOnMyChain -> RE: Overly sensitive assholes analese will not cure. (4/9/2008 2:18:43 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tsatske
quote:
Holy roadapples, Batman! Someone scolded a kid! It has to be racist! What a load of crap.
Naked, I also work with children. I have not read the article closely enough for it to be clear to me that the children were being scolded. That would make a difference, to me. And not, i'm afraid, in the direction you want it to.
When i scold children, i am ten times more careful what i call them and say to them than i might be, if i were teasing and playing with them. there are little girls i worked with whose last name was 'house'. as Christmas approached, i took to calling them 'the house elfs'. after the first time i caught myself doing it, i made myself stop until the end of that day so i could tell their mother and ask if she had objections to Harry Potter. would it be silly for her to? of course. never mind, they are her kids, and i wanted to be sure i was respecting her wishes with them.
if she was scolding the children, no name was appropriate, period. if she was teasing them, well... i have to say, in that case, that it would not be a racist thing, necessarily, for you or me, maybe, if we were just teasing - provided we were willing to stop if we were told the parent found it offensive. but she has accepted a politically sensitive position, and she must be more aware of what she says.
'monkey' has, unfortunately, been used as a racial slur in this country. it is not a random association, 'oh, i think i'll call that racist'. it has been before, it will be again. someone in a high position in a politicians campaign reflects upon their candidate and part of their job is being unusually careful about what they say. I'm sorry, it goes with the job.
Then we will have to agree to disagree, and as always, that's okay. I feel that it is an overreaction on everyone's part. Monkeys live in trees and swing from their branches. If these kids were swinging from a tree, it's pretty evident that she didn't mean it that way. She was simply comparing them to an animal they were acting like. Then again, I wasn't there, and it's all about the tone of voice. But what's next? Will I offend someone for saying they swim like a fish? They lie like a dog?
As for the nicknaming at work, I suppose it's not so much an issue where I work. We don't use nicknames. We also don't particularly answer to the parents, since it's not a daycare or school situation. Of course, if a parent had a problem with something I had said I would take it into consideration. I've never had a parent bring any problems up. I have a keen sense of propriety, but some things are just going too far.
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