CHILDREN SWEARING

BY: SHAIHAN NADEEM

EDITED BY: Salma El Fouly

 

 

Child swearing is happening in most countries around the world. According to the Raising Children Network of Australia, 80% of children aged 8+ swear on a regular basis. Children learn swear words from the music that they listen to, their parents, and their peers. Most children love learning new words, and say whatever they hear. Researchers say that the children that swear in their everyday life don’t do that well at school because they spend time trying to impress others, and trying to be mischievous. On an article from Babble, one man let his 4 year old use swear words, and said that using swear words and aggressive language would help his child interact with other classmates better. He says that using swear words would help give his child a huge amount of freedom. Children sometimes use swear words to get attention in school. Music plays a significant part in this, and students sometimes want to listen to what other students are listening to, and songs these days contain explicit lyrics. Students all around the world swear, and the American International School of Riyadh is no different.  

 

At the American International School of Riyadh, children swear everywhere. Even children in 3rd grade swear. I heard some 2nd graders use swear words in our compound bus, it was shocking. I really wanted to find out why young children in this generation use bad language more often than any other generation. I wanted to find out what influences children to swear, and why they swear.

 

I had the opportunity to ask a 8th grade boy at AIS-R about child swearing. He said, “I think students all around the world say bad words. It is now becoming very common at AIS-R as well. I think students should not use bad language in front of adults, and even I have a habit of saying bad words. I think I should not say anymore bad words, but the words just come out of my mouth. It should be stopped.” Even if he says that he swears a lot, he still wants to stop. He also said, “I learned swear words at a very young age because of my classmates, and music. My classmates in my old school used to say bad words, and I kind of started to say them myself. My friends listened to rap music, and I started listening to it to, and it had a lot of bad words in them.” I now knew that even people who consistently say bad words want to stop saying them.

 

I also asked my sister Eman. Knowing her very well, I knew that she barely says bad words. She was a perfect example of giving me information about what she thinks about child swearing. She says, “ I think that no one should use bad language. Especially young children. Young children get these words from children, or their parents. Once a child has gotten a habit of using bad words. he/she can never lose the habit. Using swear words is very bad because it might affects young children’s grades. It can also make them dumb, and it can damage their brains.” My sister thinks that it is not good to swear at all, which I think is not right. I think that adults can swear a little bit, but children can’t. I also asked her another question, she said, “Children sometimes swear to get attention. If their classmates say bad words, it will make them say it as well. Children sometimes get peer pressured into saying bad words sometimes, too. They think that they won’t be cool enough if they don’t use bad words. Parents can swear to themselves, but they should never swear in front of their children. Young children love repeating things they heard from parents.” Many agrees that parents need to stop swearing in front of their kids.

 

I also asked my mother. Being a Kindergarten teacher at the American International School of Riyadh, she has seen young children swear many times. She replied, “I have seen my kids swear sometimes. They don’t use very bad language, but they sometimes still use bad words. I have never swore in front of my kids. I would never let my kids swear, and when they were young, they hadn’t said any bad words. I have quite a few students in Kindergarten that use very bad swear words. They are 4 years old, and I still don’t know why they swear. I would never let my kids swear at the age of 4. Even now I get mad when my kids swear. It’s ok if that man is letting his young child swear, because it is his choice. But I would never let my kids swear.” My mother had never said a swear word to me when I was small. This is why I barely use swear words when I was young. I asked my mom another question. She replied, “I think parents should never swear in front of their kids. Even though their kids swear, parents should nicely tell them that it is bad to swear, and they should sit down and have a talk with them. If parents swear at their kids if they swear, children might think it is okay to swear, and they will swear even more.” If one of her students swear, she kindly tells them why it is bad, and tells them to stop.

 

Child swearing has been a huge problem in this world. Students from the age of 8+ use swear words on a regular basis. Over time, this number is going to grow and grow, and soon most children would be using swear words. According to James Lehman, (A person that worked with struggling teens for 3 decades,), parents should be involved in this, and tell their kids to stop. Children sometimes learn swear words from other children, or their parents. Sometimes students habit to swear affects their learning and their education. Children sometimes use swear words to get attention. They can also be peer pressured. Some parents allow their kids to swear, since they think it will help them later on in life. Parents have a big affect on their child’s behaviour. If children start a habit like this now, then it will live with them forever, and that is not a good thing. If you want your child to stop swearing, you tell them to stop now. If they stop as a child, they will know that swearing is bad for as long as they live. Stop while you’re young. Stop now.