When it comes to families, every single one is different, so should we vary our language when it comes to talking about them?
One parent certainly seems to think so - and she's got some very interesting reasoning to support her case.
Associate Professor Sirry Alang has gone viral on Twitter after posting a series of tweets explaining why she thinks teachers should stop saying "mums and dads" to young pupils at school.
As she explains, not every family has a mum or a dad and some children have neither.
She said: "Teachers, ur class convos are broadcasted in everyone’s homes. The # of times the teacher has said 'your mom and dad' to my kid’s class is infuriating.
"But a BRAVE kid just said...'But I only told my grandma at lunch time because my sister and I live with our grandma'.
"Then of course my kid jumped in right away & said: 'I don’t have a dad & it’s ok because my mom said there are different kinds of families. Even though I would want a dad but she’s gay. Gay means she only dates women.' LOL. Now my business is out there."
She continued: "But teacher apologized and said she’ll start saying 'parent or the adult helping you at home'. I have faith in this generation."
Her tweets garnered a lot of attention, with thousands of likes and retweets.
Many people supported the idea of using different language in class.
One person replied: "1) Your kid is awesome. 2) Caregiver is the easy, more inclusive word she is looking for."
Another said: "Your kid sounds rad! Our school uses 'your grownups'."
A third commented: "I had a student once who had to remind me *3 times* that his mom was dead and his dad was in jail. I felt so stupid and awful. Caregiver is better."
A different user added: "Good reminder to think before we speak."
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
