Why You Should Not Call Your Students “Kids”
I used to supervise large groups of teaching assistants (up to about 25 per semester), who led weekly discussion sections for my Introduction to American Government courses. Among the things I enjoyed most about mentoring these TAs were the very real discussions we had about teaching — in preparation for what would be, for many of them, their first experience leading a classroom. We discussed the nuts and bolts of working well with students. For example: It is better to begin the semester with a more authoritative approach and then ease up over time than to do the opposite. If you go the other way, it tends to generate a bad reaction from the class, much like petting a cat in the wrong direction. Another principle I stressed firmly was: Always treat your students like adults, and never refer to them as “kids.” Most faculty members are significantly older than their students, and the gap grows with every incoming class, so it is tempting to fit students with this label. But it is a problematic instructional practice because it erodes several priorities that we ought to value.
Collaboration
There is much to gain from viewing students as collaborators and seeking out opportunities to engage them in “co-creation,” a practice of central importance to UNL’s core aspirations. For instance, an especially effective approach to setting ground rules for class discussions is to have students prepare, and agree to, a set of guidelines at the beginning of the term. Students know how they want to be treated by their peers, and when given the opportunity, they will codify these expectations. You could develop the behavioral guidelines yourself, but why do this when they can do it well — and perhaps better, since they will likely be on the receiving end of any errant behavior that occurs? What’s more, students will be more likely to follow guidelines that they had a role in creating, compared to guidelines that were externally-imposed. In this case, and others, collaboration is a worthy ideal; but it requires conceding that your collaborator has the capacity to reason like an adult. Abandon the “kids” label so your students understand that you perceive them this way.
Approachability
One of the critical outcomes we want to foster in our classrooms is a sense of belonging on the part of students. Behavior that seems to minimize psychological and physical barriers between instructor and student — what is sometimes called “instructor immediacy” — is an important part of creating this sense of belonging. Boundaries are important, but behaviors that erode immediacy by seeming to create a large gap between instructor and student are detrimental to a student’s sense of belonging and of being valued. The “kids” label, with its deleterious tone, is one such behavior. Others include avoiding eye contact, remaining behind a lectern for the full class session, interacting infrequently with students during a class session, and general aloofness. In the interest of promoting instructor immediacy, try to remain approachable in both a physical sense and a psychological one. Likewise, emphasize differences between you and your students only when helpful. Differences in age, independent of experience and expertise, are most likely irrelevant to your course objectives. So highlighting the difference by referring to students as kids likely serves no important teaching goals, and it may limit your perceived approachability.
Fostering Maturity
Regarding faculty as adults and students as kids obscures the fact that maturity matters. Age and maturity tend to correspond closely, but can you think of any older people who act immature? Or any students who are already exemplars of maturity? I remember vividly an instance of an inverse correlation between age and maturity: a former faculty colleague of mine (at a different institution) was not blessed with a great deal of maturity. He made a habit of belittling and verbally abusing one student in particular — a delightful student with a truly extraordinary academic record. How is it okay that we call him “professor” and her a “kid” in his class? Behavior matters. He, despite his more advanced age, frequently behaved like an adolescent (or worse); the student who found the courage to face his abuse, and managed to excel in spite of it, behaved like an adult. It is an insult to her and other underrepresented students who endure this kind of treatment to place them in a group called “kids.” Instead, try to model maturity for your students, and be an advocate for mature students.
Inclusivity
A respectful, gender-neutral vocabulary for addressing students is essential for creating a more inclusive learning environment. Although gender-neutral, “kids” is not a good candidate, because it seems to exclude by saying “you are not an adult.” Consider replacing this term with something more aspirational. A personal favorite of mine is the label “scholar,” which the late Michael Combs (of the Political Science department) famously called all of his students. It was clearly a generous label, but having been fortunate to be one of his former scholars, I can attest to the fact that the students in his classes did their best to “dress the part.” Immediacy works in fostering student engagement, and the tone Dr. Combs set in his courses was a great illustration of this. As other good examples, Sydney Brown of the Center for Transformative Teaching opts for “friends,” and Kevin Wesley of the Management department addresses the students in his course on employment law as “legal warriors.” These all convey a sense of valuing students as full members of the academic environment.
In many respects, your students will tend to become products of the environment you create. Consequently, you should treat your undergraduate students like adults and resist the urge to refer to them — even if only outside of their presence — as “kids.” It seems like a small thing, and in most cases is little more than a habit, but it is meaningful. If “every interaction matters,” then referring to students as “kids” is more than just an unhelpful habit — it is a missed opportunity to help students see that they are adults with a critical role to play in the university and in their educational journey.
