oh, for fuck's sake.

[fox]

This article about the Growing Problem of kids who swear all the time has me scratching my head quite a bit.

I mean, I hear what they're saying about how elementary schools aren't the place for profanity, and blah blah blah.  But, first of all, are these (often youngish) teachers seriously looking us in the eye and saying they never made a concerted effort to curse up a blue streak when they were twelve?  It's a thing kids do, frankly, and yes, as much as I normally take the teachers' side in disagreements with the administration, YES, your principals and other administors DO have bigger fish to fry.  There are metal detectors in your schools for a reason, people, and in case you missed it there's federal education policy that cares less and less about you doing your job and more and more about your students correctly filling in bubble sheets, and if kids aren't learning things it's not because their brains are full of words you think they're too young to use.

JESUS.

Teach them, since you're teachers -- teach them about register, yeah?  There's language that's appropriate for this or that situation, and inappropriate language for the classroom isn't limited to profanity, after all.  For the love of god, if I had kids in school and you tried to suspend them for what they said (and what they said wasn't a threat of violence against a classmate or a teacher), fuck YEAH I'd be in there arguing with you about it, and you might not like my language either.  And I'm the child of public-school teachers, okay?  I'm one of the ones who's ON YOUR SIDE.

And secondly, here's this quote:

Horwich said constant use of profanity reveals a poor vocabulary, and O'Connor lamented the toll it is taking on the language.

"There are words virtually disappearing from our English language," O'Connor said.  "When people are mad, what do they say?  They say they are pissed off or [expletive] pissed off.  No range.  There is a big difference between being upset or livid. There is a big difference between irritated and infuriated."

Yeah, and there's a big difference between whining and wanking, bonehead.  There are words disappearing from our language.  News flash:  THAT HAPPENS.  Words appear in the language, as well.  This is hardly, as I mentioned above, the first generation in which any of this has occurred.  GAH.  Maybe pull your heads out of your collective ass and recognize that the vitality of language is neither new nor the end of the world, and stop trying to make us believe that's your major concern in trying to get kids to clean up their language on the goddamn playground.

Comments

[titti]

But then you can't really blame the schools. They are really powerless, except for suspensions and expulsions. You can't take away recess, because you can't starve them. Most elementary schools don't have sports. If a child doesn't go to a field trip, it means that the kid stays home.

In the end, the only people who can do anything are the parents.

The only other thing is peer pressure. I've seen it in Sabrina's class. A girl who went over and above accepted cursing standard used by the kids was completely isolated by the kids themselves. They refused to even talk to her unless the teacher specifically told them to.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

you can't take away lunch because you can't starve them. you can keep them inside at recess when the other kids are out playing, though. and you can exploit or even instigate peer pressure, if you do it very, very carefully.

i don't disagree, like i said before, that it's a problem. but, gyah. that piece just rubbed me in a variety of different wrong ways.

[titti]

Recess/lunch is only 20 minutes with the new curriculum, so they don't really play in public school. Heh, they are really making it hard to punish these kids.

I don't know. I'm very conservative when it comes to curse words, I even censor myself in my own LJ posts. First time I heard my uncle swear he was 35 and I was 20. I think I've heard my mom curse once in my life. It's just a sign of respect toward people, and yes, I wouldn't need the school to punish my kids because they know better, but then I don't want them coming home from school saying "so and so said this".

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

heh. "so and so's parents are obviously completely without class, baby. so and so is going to work for you someday. unless you decide not to hire him because he's foul-mouthed and unprofessional. now finish your green beans and do your homework."

i know, i know -- but let me imagine, now, while i don't have kids, mkay?

[titti]

I'll be happy to leave you with your convictions. Get back to me when you have kids. LOL