Teachers Asking Students To Call Them By Their First Name

I acknowledge the fact that I can be a little to "old school" about some things, but this new trend caught me off guard.  Many young teachers across the country don't like the idea of not being on a first name basis with their students and are telling the class to address them by their first name.  Goodbye "Mrs. Landry", hello Ruth.

I'm not sure why this seems strange since it's pretty much changed in every other part of society.  It usually only gets under my skin when I'm dealing with the bank or large purchases e.g. a car.  When it's serious business, I should have the option to decide if I want to dispense the formalities or make it clear that we are not friends.

I'm just as guilty.  It's rare that I call anyone Mr. or Mrs. anything these days; with one exception:  Teachers.  For some reason, I do not feel comfortable calling my former teachers by their first name.  It just doesn't sound right coming out of my mouth.  One of my teachers is only a few years older than me - I was a senior when he was teaching his first year, but if I saw him today I would still address him as Mr. Baker.