Why We Should Teach Kids Not to Curse

Cursing is everywhere these days! It seems like everyone is cursing all the time. On several occasions I've even heard parents cursing like sailors in front of young kids, and kids cursing in front of parents with no correction from them whatsoever. Now, don't get me wrong, I can curse with the best of them given the right set of circumstances, so I'm no puritan when it comes down to it, but I didn't curse in front of my kids until they were much older, and then only once or twice for the shock value of it. (Usually to make them so horrified they would laugh, more than anything.) I was always a stickler about it when they were young, and here's why. Cursing is not acceptable in many, many situations. It's not acceptable at school, in front of people you don't know well, in front of younger children, and, depending on the workplace, at work. By teaching my kids not to swear in front of me, I am teaching them how to filter their language appropriately so that when they are at school, or on the job, or in front of young kids, they'll automatically apply that filter that keeps them from cursing. It will just be second nature to them. If you don't believe in teaching kids not to curse you are hurting them in the long run. They'll get in trouble in school and on the job when they don't know how to apply that language filter and they'll offend people without even realizing it.

A story comes to mind from this- remember the book and movie "Julie and Julia", about the blogger who cooked her way through Julia Child's "Mastering The Art of French Cooking"? At one point Julie, the blogger, learns that Julia Child does not think well of her and she laments that it's probably because of all the cursing on her blog. The cursing cost her!

One more story about my son. A couple of years ago when he was maybe 9 or 10 he was outside playing with some kids in the neighborhood. They didn't know I could hear them from the open window, but it was like they were in the same room. One of the older boys said "sh*t" for some reason or the other, so my son pipes up with "don't say sh*t, that's a bad word". That gave me such a chuckle because, by correcting the other boy this way, he had to say the word too!

So parents, teach your kids not to curse!! Make them clean up their language around you so they'll know how to clean up their language when you're not around; they'll thank you for it one day.