# Addressed as Mr. and Miss by teachers?



## superann

In Taiwan, teachers always call students by their first name or first name + familiy name. We are never called Mr. X or Miss Y by teachers.
But, in English and American movies, students are addressed as Mr.X or Miss Y by teachers although they may only be kids.  
So, I want to know since when you have been addressed as Mr.X or Miss Y. Do you think you are regarded as an adult and receive respect from teachers?

Thank you.


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## Kelly B

In the US, students are called by their first names. It is possible that they are (or used to be) called Mr./Miss X at expensive prep schools, but I wouldn't actually know about that.
On second thought, they are called by the last name once in a while, if they are in trouble, for emphasis: MISTER Jones, for the last time, SIT DOWN.


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## stop

I'd say it's exactly the same in the UK as Kelly has mentioned about the USA. 
Unless you go to an expensive private school, or unless you are in trouble and being spoken to in that annoyingly patronising way , I can't imagine a student ever being called Mister X or Miss Y.
You get called by your first name at school here and you usually call the teacher "Sir" or "Miss" (obviously depending on the sex of the teacher).


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## cuchuflete

This may have changed in recent years, but when I went to college (BE=university), I was shocked to be addressed by all the professors as "Mr. ______". They treated us as adults, though we were not.
It set a tone of seriousness.  As 18 yr. old children with pretensions of manhood, we tried to rise to the occasion.
We addressed the faculty as Professor _____, regardless of their sex or professorial rank.

For all I know, that custom may have disappeared, along with hazing of freshmen (first year students), and other quaint customs. However, I attended a university class for one of my sons last year, and I believe the professor addressed the students as Mister and Mzzz. I'll try to get verification of that and let you know if it's correct and, more importantly, if it's common or odd.


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## Auri

In Poland primary or secondary school children are usually called by their first names. But when you study at a college or university they use Mr/Miss let's say Kowalski (it's just like Smith). Still some university professors aren't so formal and they adress their students by their first names, which in my opinion is more direct and friendly.


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## jinti

Growing up in the northeastern US and attending the usual free public school available to all children, I was usually addressed by my first name.  I only heard "Miss + Last Name" at my last chance to change my behavior before being sent to the principal's office.    I addressed all my teachers as Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. + Last Name.  We didn't use "Ma'am" or "Sir".  

I worked for a little while in a summer camp when I was a teenager.  The kids (about 4-6 years old) called me Miss + First Name.  It was the first time anyone had called me that.

In college, some professors called me Miss + Last Name (even after I got married -- I guess I looked young), but most just used my first name (or "you in the back row there... yes, YOU!").  They usually told us how they wanted to be addressed (Dr. Last Name, Professor, or whatever).  If I didn't know, I either avoided using their names   or said "Professor".  

Now I've just finished my first two master's level courses.  In the first, there were 2 professors who team-taught.  They asked us to use their first names.  In the second, the professor stated outright that he expected to be addressed as Dr. + Last Name.  Some of my classmates found his directness a little off-putting, but at least we knew what to call him....


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## *Cowgirl*

Kelly B said:
			
		

> On second thought, they are called by the last name once in a while, if they are in trouble, for emphasis: MISTER Jones, for the last time, SIT DOWN.


 
I agree, the only time we were called Mr. or Miss is when we were in trouble, (especially by older teachers.) Otherwise it's either first name and last name or simply your first name.


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## Chaska Ñawi

I teach a class of students, aged 9 to 11, in a very ordinary rural school.  I do occasionally use Miss X or Mr. Y, but only in an affectionate teasing way.  This is my second year with these students, so we're very comfortable with each other - otherwise this probably wouldn't happen.

When I was in university I only had one prof who used our surnames.   This was a small, intimate seminar course (small and intimate because it was on Anglo-Saxon and old Norse literature).  It drove us all nuts, because whenever we met each other on campus (until we learned each other's first names), we were reduced to shouting our surnames back and forth.


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## Brioche

When I went to university we were called Mr/Miss Smith by the lecturers &c.
[Ms had not been invented back then]

My 21 year-old daughter, who goes to the same university, tells me that they use first names now.

At schools in Australia the staff do not call the kids Ms/Miss/Mr.


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## Heba

Usually, teachers call us by our first names. In college, only one lecturer was calling the students Miss or Mr


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## te gato

Here we were called by our first names..(sometimes even 'hey you!')..unless we were in BIG trouble..then we were called 'Miss or Mr.'..lets just say that I got very used to being called 'miss'...even forgot to answer to my first name a few times... 
tg


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## BasedowLives

yeah, it's either Mr (Lastname) or they use your entire name, like "first-name middle-name last-name, what are you doing!?" for when you're being scolded.


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## amikama

In Israel we are very informal and titles such as Mr./Mrs. are used only in formal circumstances. That's true also in schools: Mr./Mrs. are never used - not even when students address their teachers! Both the teachers and the students are addressed with their first names. However, it's also very customary to address teachers as "Teacher" (as in: "Teacher, may I go to the bathroom?" or "I'm sorry, Teacher, but my dog ate my homework").


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## swift_precision

lol this discussion has reminded me of physical education days in high school when my gym teacher didn't even use "mister" but just called you by your last name.  Till this day I don't even think he knows my first name.


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## jupa

I think it's a question of the teacher's preference. I went to a public school in the US, and like the others, I was usually addressed by my first name unless I was in some sort of trouble. 
My principle, however, always called me, "Miss ..." Also, one or two teachers did the same. In college, I am mostly called by my first name, and seldomly called "Miss ..."
I always addressed my elementary/ high school teachers by "Mister/Mrs./Miss/Ms....." In college, I say "Dr. or Professor...." unless the professor specifically asks to be addressed by their first name.

I don't necessarily think it made me feel adult to be addressed by my last name, but it did instill a sense of formality and responsibility. It also helped to create personal distance where it was otherwise non-existant (as I come from a town of less than 1000 people.)


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## Benjy

i was called by my second name at school. "edwards!" etc... at uni every calls me by my first name.


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## Moogey

I'm not saying I've read this whole topic, but sometimes teachers will address the kids with Mr or Miss. Usually this is either (a) if you are in trouble or (b) sometimes if you're friends. For example, the 2 head disciplinarians in my school always address me with "Mr." + my last name but rarely anybody else, and we're friends (perhaps because my mom works in the school.) And I go to a somewhat expensive private school.

-M


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## jupa

Moogey said:
			
		

> (b) sometimes if you're friends. For example, the 2 head disciplinarians in my school always address me with "Mr." + my last name but rarely anybody else, and we're friends (perhaps because my mom works in the school.)
> -M



I agree. This is similar to my situation, though i didn't explain it so well in my last post. (my mom and dad both work at my school  it made things awkward.)


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## Isotta

At American school, nearly teachers always called us "Miss" plus the last name, from about fourth grade on through high school. Perhaps in conversation after class a teacher would address me by my first name. But the atmosphere at my school was quite formal in general. At English school in Hong Kong, it depended on the teacher. At university, most professors use formal last name address with students. As for calling them by their first name, I can think of two that have signed emails with their first names, but I would never dare call either of them anything but "Professor," usually without their last name.

Z.


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## JazzByChas

I would think that how teachers address their students depends upon the school and the teacher.  I am from the "old school," and when I was in 1st through 12th grades, the teachers always addressed us by our first names.  I suppose, by the time I got to college, perhaps, as has been mentioned, some professors confer that pseudo-maturity/formality on you and call you Mr./Ms. Last-Name.  If  the teacher who taught in 1st through 12th grades was so inclined, they might address you as "Mr./Ms." as well, just to engender a quasi-formality.  Sometimes, teachers are just eccentric, and like to be formal. 

But for the most part, I never heard of being addressed by your last name until at least college, and even then, this depended upon the professor.


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## Katey

In the private school I run, neither teachers nor students are called by their last names.  The students call me and most of the teachers "Miss + first name".  Men are "Mr. + first name."  All women are Miss even if they are married.  It's a very common way to address adults in this part of Florida.  We occasionaly call the female students "Miss + first name". It's playful.

Kate


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## Moogey

Katey said:
			
		

> In the private school I run, neither teachers nor students are called by their last names. The students call me and most of the teachers "Miss + first name". Men are "Mr. + first name." All women are Miss even if they are married. It's a very common way to address adults in this part of Florida. We occasionaly call the female students "Miss + first name". It's playful.
> 
> Kate


 
I usually call all the female teachers "Miss" too, not "Mrs." or "Ms." because I don't feel like memorizing who's married and who's not. I was only corrected once by a teacher who I did that to, but she's a bit of a snotty teacher. I usually say Miss + last name so fast that the difference would be so subtle it would hardly be noticed.

-M


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## Katey

Wait till you get to college. It'll only get worse.  Ms. is much safer in many places, especially universities.

Katey


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