Parents want their children to call the teacher by her christian name

A young female teacher in a primary school in the surroundings of Angers has recently been criticized by the parents of her pupils because she had prohibited the children to talk her otherwise than by using the title "Mrs". The families of the pupils complained about this teacher, recently appointed in that school, because she changed a use which, previously, authorized the children to call the teacher by her christian name.

The collegues of this teacher choose, years ago, to be called in their classrooms by their christian names (even if the children didn't ask this right). The young teacher refused to toe the line as her collegues hoped she would do so, arguing that she needed a distance to teach and that the children have to practise the two ways, familiar and unfamiliar, to talk to anybody in daily life.

Formerly, in private as well as public schools in France, it was compulsory for pupils to adress to their teachers using "Mr", "Miss" or "Mrs". Moreover, in France, when a person come in a store, a bank, or a public service, familiar words are never used. Why would the children have a right the adults have not? This evolution toward more direct relationships between teachers and pupils backfired very often since years in France, a situation whom the teachers suffer. So, who is to blame?