Should I say anything?

My 9 yr old said the teacher misspelled something she was writing on the board, and she said "oh, ****" as she erased and fixed the word. She didn't say anything after that, like oops, excuse me, etc...
Should I say something to her or the principal?
I know my kids have heard worse, but she is a teacher for crying out loud!!
She's new to the school and young, so this may be her first teaching job.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

UM< DDC, can you HONESTLY say you've NEVER slipped up and said something in front of your little one that you oughtnot to of?

I know I'm guilty!

Keep in mind, teachers are human. And with the politics of the school system have a lot on their plates.

I think if anything, you might want to bring it up to her in a polite way, but don't take it to the principal. Yeah, they're nine year olds, but she could have said worse, and she probably didn't even realize it. Especially if it seems to be her first teaching job, then you may just want to gently bring it up to her.

Now, if it becomes a frequent pattern, then more measures should probably be taken, but for now, it seems to simply be a little mistake.

My school teacher said F*ck when she dropped a heavy book on her foot and then pretended like it didn't happen because she was embarressed, and I turned out fine =] If it were to happen again then I would say something, but we all have accidents.

Oh please give the girl a break.....
do you think she doesn't know she shouldn't have said it...???

shoot I teach at a university and couldn't get my damned projector to work and was fairly frustrated and said "oh F***" by accident under my breath..... I must of turned about 30 shades of red and my students got hysterical.....

we are human.... we slip.... I was embarassed..... they thought it was a riot....

I am sure the kids in her class are going to remind her everyday of what she said.....and its only the beginning of the year....

I would talk to her politely. And if it doesn't improve take it to the principal. You have a right as a parent to not have to worry about your child hearing any kind of profanity in school.

I remember I was in high school and my teacher started cussing at us. Told us we weren't going to amount to anything and I stood up to him. I told him that if we can't cuss at him he can't cuss at us. He then preceded to say "B*itch I mean Beach get out in the hall. My last name is Beach, it wasn't a mistake. In the hall he said that he should send me to the principal's office. I said go a head. It was his first year teaching and I was a senior. I was an honor student and never been in trouble before. The principal believed me over him and I got signed statements from the class. He was put on teacher probabtion and was fine for the rest of the year. I love this quote, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

We have a right to stand up for justice even if it's in a small way. She might have just said H*ll but what happens if next time she says something worse? It's just my opinion.

Give the girl a break!!! She knows she messed up. We all have accidents sometimes and i'd wager it will never happen again. If it does, fine, do something. But for one little slip?????

From a teacher...please...give the girl a break. We are human. We make mistakes. Have you NEVER sworn in your life in an inappropriate setting? If it is a constant pattern then yes it needs to be addressed but take it to her first, don't go over her head. You don't know what else may have happened that morning. I once was going to close the curtains and got stung by a wasp right between my thumb and index finger and I said a whole lot worse than ****! The kids were more concerned about if I was okay than what I had said, and the sky didn't fall.

She is young, you have may NO IDEA how stressful teaching is ( and I have been in the business for 27 years) , let alone being in your first job..you feel woefully unprepared for this no matter how good your education. You are frankly terrified most mornings. NO matter how well -prepared you are, something will go wrong..still happens to me everyday. This could have been the sixteenth thing that happened that day before the first recess! I am sure most of the kids have already forgotten it ...and they won't grow up to be axe murderers or delinquents because of it.

BTW teachers are mostly grateful for any help they can get. If you have the time, drop in and ask her if there is anything you can do..photocopying, helping make lesson materials (I loved my parents who would colour activities for me and cut them out), listening to kids read, ...then you could get to
know her better. She may decline your help, if she is still feeling insecure, but at least she knows the offer is there. OH and Grade Four..I envy her, my years teaching Grade Four were the best of my whole career. Most of the kids are at the age they can tie their shoes and talk in complete sentences, are starting to get a sense of humour and most think the sun rises and sets on their teachers LOL

Actually, I do not curse or swear in front of my children, even accidentally.
These are 9 yr olds, not college or high school students.

I would say, if it happens once, give her a break, since we all slip. If it becomes a pattern, happens more than once, etc, I'd bring it up to the teacher.

I definitely wouldn't take a one-time incident, even in front of kids that young, and assume it represents a pattern or that a "talking to" is required. Especially as a new teacher, she may have been so embarrassed or frustrated that it slipped out that she'll NEVER do it again...lesson learned, and all that.

If it continues, though, and that makes you uncomfortable, bring it up to the teacher and see what she says.

NO one said you did, but I did ask if you've NEVER slipped!

Is it possible the teacher said "oh well" and the kid misunderstood?
Also, a lot of people don't consider that a "swear" word to begin with, so perhaps she didn't even realize it might offend some kids.

I agree teachers (and for that matter all adults) should set an example about what language is appropriate to use in what setting. I don't have the "cleanest" mouth myself, but I learned lots of substitutes for swear words when mine were little. I learned them from the teachers actually :-)

In my opinion, it's probably not something you should talk to her about unless she makes a habit of such things. A one-time slip up doesn't seem anything that would cause the kids long term harm.

I agree with the majority of the posts, put this one on the back burner.
Mollymom, you laid down some great words. I volunteer in my sons classroom once to twice a week. They always have tons of stuff for me to do!
I dont know how much I would trust a 9 year olds perception of what he heard a teacher say with her back turned... "oh ****, oh well, i cant spell..."
If you must say something, give her the curtousy of talking with her first, in private, under some breazy conditions.

Hey and btw, good for you not cussing infront of your kids, you have more self control than I.

Hotmamma, I was writting this while you posted, LOL, great minds think alike, eh?

I would think she slipped and possibly didn't apologize because she was hoping the kids didn't hear it so why point it out? I have a fourth grader and, unfortuantely, I know he's heard worse on the bus/at school from the kids around him

The values we all have regarding swear words are sometimes very different, you have to act according to YOUR conscience, but I would consider this.

There are words today that were once considered quite obscene swear words, that are no longer considered so. And I'm not talking about words that are still considered even a "little" bad, but words that are now considered entirely proper. There are also words that today are swear words, that once were not.

So, to my way of thinking the importance of teaching children not to swear is in not only, or even primarily, a list of words they're not to say, but more importantly a way not to use words. My brother and I would try to find a loophole by inventing our own swear words - using an innocent sounding word as a swear word. My parents didn't let us get away with that. Calling each other "poopy head," (or even a code word we'd decided we would use that sounded "nice") was no more tolerated than using one from "the list." We were taught that the intent of the word was the MAIN issue. Now, our family as adults, and sometimes even in fron of the children do use words some people would consider inappropriate or swear words. But - we don't use those words applied to people (and if we do, people get mad - justifiably). In our family, name calling is the bigger nono. Calling someone a brat or an idiot is much worse than saying "****" or worse when you cut your finger or drop and break something.

If this were a case where the teacher used a swear word (or even a non-swear word) to shame a child, I would have a very different opinion, but an "accidental" expletive not directed AT a person to me is a very important distinction. A distinction that a 9 year old is old enough to understand.

That your child thought it important enough to bring home to you, shows that you've taught her well as to what words you consider inappropriate. It's a great learning opportunity to discuss with your child - how she felt about the teacher's slip - did it embarass her - did she think it was funny - did she lose respect for the teacher - why did she think the teacher did it.....

If it's a true "slip," and the teacher chose to ignore it rather than draw attention to it by apologizing (probably hoping the kids didn't hear it, or had mistaken it for "oh, well") or whether she even noticed that she'd said it (if it's a habit, it will occur again, and your child will tell you), I don't think it's something to worry about unless it reoccurs.