kids using "bad words"

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Flint

I do think, though, that the possibility exists that simply removing the power from "bad words" might in fact cause my children to swear even less than a child who is rebelling against authority by doing the opposite of what they are told. Or, at worse, they might curse about the same amount. Maybe a little more, who knows?

It is a balancing act, yes. You don't want to make these words forbidden fruit with the power that goes along with that. I also think you shouldn't give your kids the idea that swearing is just fine. Society frowns on swearing. You don't see the worst words on broadcast TV, although you do see swearing more than when I was a kid. I don't want my kids swearing, so I don't want them hanging around other kids who I can be sure are swearing when my kids are with them.

If my kids start talking about poopheads and stuff like that, I tell them that if they are going to talk that way, they have to go in the bathroom. That's where poop goes, so that's where that language goes too. I make it clear that it's not acceptable, but hopefully it doesn't give those words power.