Another dumb teacher act

My niece's class was recently asked by their teacher who liked maths; a few, including Mavis put up their hands. The teacher, trying to be...who knows...witty? said they were 'brainiacs'. So, labelled, singled out and given a daggy name. Real smart. My niece was reduced to tears, and had to talk it out for hours that night that she was teased by friends for being a 'brainiac' and the birthmark on her forehead must have been her 'brainiac badge'. Class one stupid thing to do, teacher! Making children look and feel different, leads to being singled out; young children hate being different in any way from their peers. It was also psychologically offensive to 'name' or 'label' someone, giving ammunition to detractors that could follow them for years! Sure, acknowledge their love of a subject, but don't turn it into a 'name' by which they could be (will be) lampooned and made to feel bad by their peers. A real richard-head act.