[jinx]

Originally Posted by Flint

@jinx: So you're saying you would discipline your kids more on the intent or usage of words more than for the words themselves?

Yes, exactly. As you mentioned, you can be quite offensive without ever swearing, even in cartoons. That's a separate issue.

They would need to know, from me, at a minimum, that these words are treated differently by some people.

This is important, and pretty much the only guidance we gave our kids wrt bad words. They don't get in trouble for using bad words at home, but their grandmothers are more sensitive etc. They don't get in trouble for using bad words at school, but some of the other kids might not like to hear them etc.

LJ and I both use fairly colorful language. My kids very rarely say any bad words. I think that's in large part due to the fact that there is no attention heaped on their saying them. They are not made to feel bad for it, nor is it something special reserved for adults. They're just words and they don't often have much use for them. As a parent, I feel like I've avoided a lot of power struggles by making it a non-issue.

Originally Posted by glatt

The deal with using such words and things like table manners etc. is that they become habits. Habits will come out no matter where they are.

I think kids are just as able as adults to understand "time and place". You don't fart in a meeting with clients, you don't swear in church, you don't eat with your hands and belch at Le Bec Fin. But you might do any one of these things at home without creating an unbreakable habit that makes you a social misfit. Kids get that.