People are taught at a young age not to swear because those words are considered bad. Usually children will be punished for using swear words to teach them not use those words in their everyday vocabulary. However, in recent years studies have shown that the younger generations are beginning to use swear words more often in their vocabulary. Not only is it affecting students, but media outlets as well with certain outlets becoming more relaxed when it comes to censorship in their work. Even though this is happening and there is evidence to back it up, nobody seems to be looking for a solution and instead are just adapting to this trend. With the age kids begin swearing regularly slowly decreasing, it's hard to say when, if at all, there is
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This, however, has proved to be ineffective as there has actually been a rise in young children's use of swear words in recent years. Timothy Jay, a psychology professor for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the Berkshires, states his research on the matter in a Washington Post article, “By the time kids go to school now, they’re saying all the words that we try to protect them from on television...We find that swearing really takes off between ages 3 and 4.” If kids are using these words at such a young age, they will grow up with a relaxed mentality about the use of these words which will lead to a profanity-integrated vocabulary. Reasonings behind the increased uses can vary greatly from kid to kid with many simply following their parents/legal guardians example. Travis Wright, author of the Washington Post article used above, discusses some of these reasons behind kids use of profanity, “Children in the midst of developing their own vocabularies are like language vacuum cleaners, sucking up as many words as they can. Emotionally charged expletives stand out like superheroes.” If parents tell a kid to not do something, they are going to do the opposite because it's in their nature. Forbidding swear words will only push them towards using them in secret, especially if they know their parents include swear words in their vocabulary when they are not around them. Another reason for childrens increase in swearing may be found in certain media outlets, like television or even just the internet, due to young children's heavy use of said activities and the current state of censorship found in those media
This, however, has proved to be ineffective as there has actually been a rise in young children's use of swear words in recent years. Timothy Jay, a psychology professor for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the Berkshires, states his research on the matter in a Washington Post article, “By the time kids go to school now, they’re saying all the words that we try to protect them from on television...We find that swearing really takes off between ages 3 and 4.” If kids are using these words at such a young age, they will grow up with a relaxed mentality about the use of these words which will lead to a profanity-integrated vocabulary. Reasonings behind the increased uses can vary greatly from kid to kid with many simply following their parents/legal guardians example. Travis Wright, author of the Washington Post article used above, discusses some of these reasons behind kids use of profanity, “Children in the midst of developing their own vocabularies are like language vacuum cleaners, sucking up as many words as they can. Emotionally charged expletives stand out like superheroes.” If parents tell a kid to not do something, they are going to do the opposite because it's in their nature. Forbidding swear words will only push them towards using them in secret, especially if they know their parents include swear words in their vocabulary when they are not around them. Another reason for childrens increase in swearing may be found in certain media outlets, like television or even just the internet, due to young children's heavy use of said activities and the current state of censorship found in those media