Don’t Call them Students … Call them Friends

One school I sub at does not use the term students, or scholars, or even kids. The teachers refer to their students as “friends”.
Examples -One of my friends has trouble focusing during math…. -my friends earned 5 extra minutes of recess. -please send the names of our friends that are absent to to office. -friends please make a nice line so we can go to lunch. I think this is odd. The kids are not my friends and they surely shouldn’t be the full time teacher’s “friends”. I find this weird. It’s just one elementary school so far, but is this another weird trend? Edit- I appreciate the alternative ways to view this practice of calling them Friends. While I still don’t love it because I think it’s a slippery slope, I can see many folks embrace it. Thanks for enlightening me.