Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Hmm. I don't think it's abuse, exactly. I just think it's no way to talk to a child if you're not a child yourself. And even then, you'd get scolded.

Maybe he hadn't lost his temper--I didn't listen to the recording. My mother has a terrible temper, but she tried to mitigate it towards us, and was harsh with us as punishment, not as an outlet for her emotions.

Now, the spankings she gave us? Very out of fashion here in the US today. It'd be weird for me to think the tongue-lashing was more acceptable.

What gets me, Cashmere, is that she uses a totally unparalleled example. If a kid is acting like an asshat in class and is rude to other students, I actually have no qualms about lobbing a well-aimed zinger at the kid.

But, and this might seem like splitting hairs, I am not the kid's parent. I'm not designed just to be on kid A's side. In fact, I also have kids B-Z who need to be protected from kid A and I have no qualms about being the alpha-teaser if a kid is making others feel like shit, especially if my other options of, "Be kind" or "Keep it up, and you are going to the Dean's Office" don't work. I even have no problem saying to a particularly troubling kid, "You've got to go out of this room right now because I can't stomach the thought of you being in here and being as rude as you are right now."

I guess if you are making fun of others publicly in a space where I am supposed to be managing classroom behavior, I have no qualms of addressing your disruption publicly in that way. And, if I hurt your feelings and I can tell I've hurt your feelings, I'll also apologize to you publicly.

That seems to me a very different situation than a parent calling a kid a name in a hot-tempered moment. I don't have super strong feelings (I actually think pig is a terrible thing to call a girl, esp. in the extreme body-focused world of our society) on that; I'm more disturbed that he is so disconnected, he doesn't know how old she is.

I'm suffering a random bout of curiosity. I want to know the etymology of the phrase "on line" but I haven't been able to find a good site for the etymology of phrases.

The earliest usage I can think of is on steam-powered ships, where boilers can be on line (i.e. producing steam). Or maybe it comes from steam power plants in general.

Also, I am in middle school where the lingua franca is sarcasm. So I tend to use sarcasm with certain kids. Other kids, NSM. If I know the kid has a thick skin, I'll go there when pushed. But for most kids, I don't because I know them well enough to know that they can't handle it.

And as a kid, I hated being teased. Apparently my defense mechanism was to be verbally sharp. It's true that as an adult, most of my meatspace folks don't tease me at all because my response tends to come fast and off the cuff. That's a result of being picked on by my brother and cousin through my childhood.

I also don't think the lack of namecalling produces meaner or more violent kids.

edited for clarity.

I heard at least some of the recording. Baldwin didn't just call her a "selfish pig," he went on and on. So I'd say he lost his temper. I also got the impression that the situation had been escalating because his daughter chronically missed appointments that she'd made to call him. Which to me says he overreacted to provocation.

I'm betwixt and between on verbal abuse. I have no doubt that there's such a thing, but I'm not sure where the line is between a wrong step and abuse.

bon bon

I saw on the news this morning that Baldwin is now trying to get out of his 30 Rock contract b/c of this.

how come? I mean, I wonder why he'd try to get out of it, though I can see why the show might want him out.

I'm suffering a random bout of curiosity. I want to know the etymology of the phrase "on line" but I haven't been able to find a good site for the etymology of phrases.

I always assumed that it came from "on the line" as in on the telephone line. Just a tiny step from a physical line running between poles. That was before the internet was built of tubes, of course.

I also don't think the lack of namecalling produces meaner or more violent kids.

There's at least some evidence that a high percentage of school shooters experienced a lot of verbal bullying from their peers. Yes, peer to peer bullying isn't the same as a teacher's one-time response to a student's behavior (whether word or deed). But the existence of namecalling does appear to have an effect.

Right, Fred Pete. Therefore, I don't think that the lack of namecalling produces meaner or more violent kids. That is to say, I don't think kids need to be toughened up by being called names.