Kids and Bad Words

[LifeisaGarden]

My daughter (shes 11) was describing something she saw on "who's line is it anyways", this is not a show she's allowed to watch. She said it was during the props portion of the show, and one of the guys picked up a big long thing and held it up to his pants and he said "Hey, look at my dick!"

Apparently, I looked in shock because she said to me, "what's wrong? are you alright?!"

I asked her if she knew she had said a bad word and she said no and asked me which word she said was the bad one. I told her and I started to laugh which embarrassed the crap out of her. I didn't mean to embarrass her but it was so funny. I just told her not to worry about it but to not say it again.

I have a habit of saying SOB, and BS. I say the letters, not the words.

So a while back she was doing something and she hurt her self and said, SOB!!

On a different occasion she was watching football with her dad and she told him that some play was BS.

I had to explain that she cant say these things.

[Bronn]

My son is 2 and IDGAF what he says as he grows up.

Words are words, and obscenity laws are basically violations of the freedom of speech.

People who get offended by words are silly.

That said, I think people who say such words too often do so due to a lack of vocabulary... There are so much more interesting alternatives to the four letter words that using them too much is overkill...

[lightsout]

My son is 2 and IDGAF what he says as he grows up.

Words are words, and obscenity laws are basically violations of the freedom of speech.

People who get offended by words are silly.

That said, I think people who say such words too often do so due to a lack of vocabulary... There are so much more interesting alternatives to the four letter words that using them too much is overkill...

fuging this! ^^

...er...wait....<_<

Anyway, as said, words are words. There are no inherently "bad" words, only words that you're conditioned to not say. Some words are necessarily derogatory DUE to their use in derogatory ways (racial slurs, for example). However, you could make ANY word a bad word in the same way. Calling somebody a doorknob, for example, with specific intent and a specific meaning for what you're trying to get across, and if used widely enough for a long enough period of time, could be vilified in exactly the same way as any racial slur. Of course, we KNOW what a doorknob is, and we know that it doesn't mean THAT, but we understand, due to our societal conditioning, that saying it is probably not a good idea anymore.

I plan on letting my kids say whatever, but educating them on what it is exactly they are saying and how others will take their words. Words are important because they have meaning. When a word loses all meaning, it is useless. I have no problem with my kid saying, after a bad game of baseball with a terrible umpire, "that ump was full of poo". No issue. However, I will tell him, "be careful where you say that sort of stuff. Never use those types of words directly at somebody, because it will only upset them and make you look bad." When it comes to say, the n-word or any other word that is just social suicide to use (outside of ignorant circles of people, anyway), I will teach them "you never say that", because that is what it is right. Everything else is essentially permitted. I'd feel like a hypocrite if, while watching a Panthers game, i said, "that's a fuging terrible call" and then got on my kid's case 5 minutes later when he parrots it.

[Floppin]

You're seriously concerned about an 11 year old saying "dick"?

Really?

[FuzzyPanther]

I really wish I could claim it as an original thought of my own, but lightsout seems to have the right idea here. (imho, of course)

[Kevin Greene]

You're seriously concerned about an 11 year old saying "dick"?

Really?

Meh, my daughter is 15 and doesn't cuss.

[lightsout]

Meh, my daughter is 15 and doesn't cuss.

Hahahaha...cute. I remember when I turned 21, and after a life-long series of events that made me lose all respect for my biological mother, and my mom heard me cuss for the first time. She acted like I hadn't been cussing since middle school. Your daughter may not, which is cool too, but odds are she probably does at least a little when she's not around adults.

[Kevin Greene]

Hahahaha...cute. I remember when I turned 21, and after a life-long series of events that made me lose all respect for my biological mother, and my mom heard me cuss for the first time. She acted like I hadn't been cussing since middle school. Your daughter may not, which is cool too, but odds are she probably does at least a little when she's not around adults.

duh

[Chimera]

Would you feel better if she would have said "hey look at my Richard!"

[Bwood]

LOL welcome to generation X, dont take life so serious and get use to it.

Shelter your daughter that badly and when she gets into college she'll be partying hard and doing more with dick than just saying it.

[Jackofalltrades]

My son is 3, so I've really had to curb my language lately. The last thing I need is for him to go to his Methodist preschool and drop the f bomb.

[pstall]

and then they have to go to work and make a living. we just teach our kids to be yourself and speak your mind but be appropriate. have a bit of decorum.

but we dont play word police but we do make sure they know the impact of words.

[-13 Amp-]

profanity is a matter of superstition, the idea that there are certain sequences of sounds, which if said, will make people very uncomfortable for reasons that they cannot explain...

and whats worse is some wanna say its the meaning of the word, but are ok with words like "crap", "doo doo", and words like that which have the exact same meaning as "s-h-i-t" but i guess they want it in some form of baby talk...

words are words, stop buying into the superstition of profanity, matter of fact the "bad words" of last centery aren't even the same bad words today, so we can't even agree on whats bad and whats not, it constantly changes...

[PhillyB]

swear words are cultural and linguistic relatives, not absolutes. there is nothing intrinsic about a compilation of morphemes that gives it meaning; only context. religious people don't get this and that's why you get this traditional cultural sense of swearing being something you do if you're not a christian. real christians would never swear.

stupid. it's all a relative societal construct.

that said you have to teach your kids about being responsible and know when something is appropriate and when it's not. saying s h i t around your homies =/= saying it in front of grandma.