As a guest teacher, I hear kids calling each other “stupid.” I don’t like this and try to address when I can because it’s not true and it’s damaging to their sense of value and worth.
This is a broader cultural problem as well. We have a tendency to think making mistakes means you’re stupid.
Let’s face it, we all make dumb mistakes from time to time and sometimes daily. However, that does not make us “stupid” but simply means we’re imperfect humans. Most of us are intelligent people in varying measures who make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them.
As I tell the kids, if you don’t like to be called stupid, then don’t call someone else stupid. It’s okay to say you made a dumb mistake but that doesn’t make you stupid.
If you want to be treated with respect then treat others with respect. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
If we all followed this guideline or as some call it, the golden rule, we’d be a kinder, more caring culture.