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The "approved" procedure for making comments - and the colour you should mark them in, red, black or blue - fluctuated. I  almost never "marked" in red, for the very reason your story describes. When  insensitive "marking" as such went out of favour, the aim became to actually communicate something useful and formative to the pupil, something to help them "do better" next time. Red was a no-no, as was scribbling all over work. Children were even encouraged to write back, under the comment, like a dialogue; the theory was that teachers rarely had time in lessons to speak to all of them personally. Besides, it was a way of knowing whether the teacher had actually marked the work or not. Those who were angling for promotion got themselves a date stamp so you could even see when they'd marked it, regardless of whether what they'd written was useful or not to the child.

Registers were the same, but different.  A standard way of setting them out, with black for presents and red for absences (as well as other marks one never remembered properly.)  Good practice suggested that the register could be taken by a TA while you were talking to children about the day's/lessons activities, (so long as it was taken early enough on to notice absences - which if you were worth your salt as a teacher you already knew without doing a roll call) but it was still the tradition to do the twice daily muster.  A few years ago, a friend  had actually done her register (knowing Ofsted were in school) when the inspector came in to watch some ten minutes after the lesson start.  Children were occupied, busily working and there was beautiful silence. However, because the inspector hadn't actually seen my friend "taking the register" she asked her to take it again.  You can imagine the children's comments, and my friend's afterwards.  If you can - do; if you can't - teach; and if you can't teach - teach teachers.

Sorry to bore everyone.  Sometimes, like artisticbreadmaker, it makes me "really, really angry"!