A Teacher and his "joking"

As I am sure most everyone has seen, a local middle school teacher has made national news for being....shall we say, not so smart. This man believes it is ok to call his students losers. He says he is trying to relate to his students and does not mean it in a derogatory way.

Hello? Does he know the definition of th word loser? This man wrote on an 11 yr old girl's paper "-20% for being a loser." Loser was underlined twice. THIS is a joke? THIS is how you relate to your students? This young girl's mother contacted the school and met with the teacher and the principal. The teacher was told not to do this to this student again (not all students, just this one) and apologized to the mom.

Then, he does it again. This time mom went to the press. People are coming out of the woodwork in support of this man. They are blasting this little girl, who is getting tormented over this. How can anyone say that it is ok for a teacher, an authority figure, a person whose job it is to encourage students...to belittle them? Even in a joking manner?

Thoughts?