Swearing in front of children

Oh davidhs! What a lovely (sheltered)world you live in! I never brought my kids up to swear- but they hear it everywhere nowadays as it seems commonplace- and though my youngest(15)doesnt use bad language,even when he gets angry on video games(i know this as hes sooo loud&doors open)im pretty sure his older brother(19)does sometimes with his friends. If he occasionally swears when his brothers exasperated him i admonish him for it& he keeps it in check.But they (mostly) pick it up at high school&college these days amongst their peers my youngest substitutes the word 'stupid' in place i think- he says things like " that stupid game isnt stupid working right"-bit better i think.

Obscenities are part and parcel of 21c life. I use them when on my own.Mainly when watching tv .Nothing gets me going than a politician /holier than though individual croaking on and on and on as to how we are doomed to extinction once leaving the EU.

Swearing does NOT indicate a lack of vocabulary- even the ' posh sorts' who've had best education (&presumably have a BIG vocabulary of long words?)So not uneducated-can swear away with the others- often delighting in using more swear words than the 'common' people!and no not all high school kids swear- but a lot do,if teachers arent around, but they hear it out& about too as its more commonplace than it used to be

Bugger is not a swear word in the north-east either - as others have said it's more a term of affection.

My first experience of swearing was as a recently married couple my husband and I shared a two floor flat with our friends. We had the two downstairs rooms with the kitchen and they had the upper floor with the bathroom.

The upper floor wife, who was the posh daughter of a very famous father, was in the kitchen when she dropped a bottle of milk. I heard an irritated 'Oh fack!' and was shocked rigid. Somehow it seemed much worse in an upper class accent!

I dont like to hear bugger or fart either and we never used those words when I was growing up or with our own children. We have a friend, an elderly man (well,our age!) Who describes himself as an old fart. It makes me wince internally!
He also talks about going for a pee or a crap which I hate to hear too but we never say anything as he is a nice man and a good friend.

They are just words and I can't get worked up about them unless they are being used directly at a child like the sad story further up the thread. What I do get worked up about is the amount of aggression on the football pitch. I remember how outraged the nation was about David Beckham kicking somebody and being sent off. Most of the outrage was directed at his stupidity. Now, it would seem that this sort of behaviour is common place. The behaviour I have seen is an appalling role model for young children and much more likely to be damaging than a bit of swearing.

I hate hearing people swear under any circumstances. When I was young I was told that swearing was a sign of lack of vocabulary and imagination as the English language, used properly is very expressive. When people swear in front of me I feel embarrassed for them.

I hate it with a passion..I wait outside the school most days to pick up my granddaughter from primary school and the high school children go past effing n jeffing every other word.....it sounds awful and I dread my granddaughter going to high school....society just doesn’t care anymore about offending others and children are subjected to it all the time...or perhaps it’s just me...?

Craftycat. I agree that in that instance was son was right to stop you as his very presence, if he needed to defend you, could exacerbate the problem.
However, i also feel that so many louts get away with their actions BECAUSE nobody says anything. I have on several occasions interceded when i felt it was needed but have always done so with a smile and jokey attitude. The worst thing you can do is berate someone from your 'high horse' as that will just make them bristle and the situation escalates. I just said to a group of young men once with a big smile, 'come on lads, kids present' and they actually apologised. Not only that, as i passed them again in the shop one of them shushed another up who was about to swear again!

Shocking enough, yes. Even worse when the child gets smacked for swearing like the elders!

Nezumi65 My DGC is 11.

I don't suppose it's the first time he's heard swearing, but I feel when it comes from parents it somehow makes it more acceptable in the child's eyes.

Years ago, driving my 3 sons back from school (they were around 12, 14, 16) a van pulled out and nearly killed us all. I shouted 'You f..king ......(pause) Nincompoop'! (the next word on the tip of my tongue would've been unacceptable!). There was a stunned silence, followed by laughter, followed by 'Nincompoop? What the hell does that mean'! I've been a laughing stock ever since (they still laugh about it). Still glad I didn't use the other word though!

It is normal for some families. My DD told me yesterday that when she was in the park, a mother shouted at a young child, 'you f...ing wanted to come here, so go and f...ing play!'

I am no longer shocked by the language some people use; I just dislike it intensely, but have long since realised that standards have changed in regard to swearing and using the rudest possible words for parts of the body, sex etc.

By today's standards my parents didn't swear when we were children, but actually, they frequently did say things like "damn, bloody hell, shut up etc." When I was about five. I shocked my mother by asking how old you had to be to be allowed to say "shut up"? When she asked what on earth I meant, I said that my sister and I had to say "be quiet" but Daddy frequently said "shut up", so I thought it was like smoking or driving a car and that you had to be a certain age to be allowed.

After that the grown-ups' language improved for quite a long time.

I find it sad that people apparently no longer can complain about anything without using coarse or obscene language and hope I live long enough to experience a move back to the idea that swearing is impolite and unnecessary.

Ne ver in front of the children, we never did. Our parents never did.
However when my youngest was doing A level drama she had to say a rather nasty on stage .....she and I practiced rather hard and became rather good at swearing generally.
I also enjoy a good old Friday night out in a pub where the language of some can become quite fruity...
To b honest it doesn’t worry me in the least jus5 not in front of little ones.

Sorry unacceptable! Not me to inter fear in my own DGC upbringing, I would have complained about hearing it myself. “Language please” or “there are children present”. should have been enough to tip him off.

I swear regularly, mostly at home and driving, but am aware of my audience and would never swear at anyone.
I'm not a dedicated football fan but can see it's a very skilful game and watch with DH occasionally. Yes, the players are overpaid, often not at all articulate, but this doesn't make them worth a less as human beings. We can all sneer at 'new money' but they are noticed more because they are well known.

I'm saving up for when I really, really, really want to shock. I think my close family might actually faint if they heard me swear.

My OH visited his GP earlier this year due to a flare up of his skin condition, the 30ish GP took one look at it and said f*cking Hell.
OH who's only in his forties reported this to the practice manager.
So unprofessional. As a retired nurse, if I had been heard to use that language with a patient I would have been on a warning and disciplinary action.

Couldn’t the f.hell comment have been addressed immediately by your husband? A formal complaint seems over
Kill to me. I do hope the gPs
Shock at seeing the flAre
Up resulted in effective treatment.

Is 'Oh shit' really swearing?
I ask because I seem to have said it twice lately, through sheer fright, both times when some idiot motorist has caused a near accident.

I hate swearing at the best of times! Whilst you can't stop children hearing swear words, you can lead by example. People have been castigated for swearing but nobody's been castigated for not!

I do call people some 'not very nice names' when I'm driving but hate to hear swearing.

'Oh Dear' doesn't seem to hit the mark when someone has cut you up on the motorway.

Iam64, " Kill to me" Not sure what you are meaning by your statement? Can you explain please.