Growing up in Australia, calling a teacher by their first name as a student was incredibly disrespectful and worthy of being sent to the principal if done repeatedly. This often resulted in students never learning their teachers’ given names. Generally, adults—teachers or otherwise—expected to be called by their title and surname, and would likely correct a kid if addressed wrongly.

I rarely see kids out and about at all these days, and if they are, I never see them interacting with adults other than buying take-away. It’s a bit concerning, really.