It is quite common nowadays to see children as young as 8 or 9 years of age use the kind of foul language you would only hear in B-Grade movies. What has brought about this change in our children? Most adults today would not even know the meaning of most of these swear words! But the kids clearly do. So lets take a look at what influences your child to use swear words and what you can do to put a stop to it. In this articleWhat Makes Children Swear?Influences for Foul LanguageTalk to Your Child What Makes Children Swear? The biggest reason for children using foul language is peer pressure. A lot of children swear to imitate the popular kids in school or in the local neighbourhood. This sort of behaviour begins mostly with feelings of rebellion. The children feel that swearing brings them on par with adults. And children imitate their peers without much thought, therefore taking up this bad habit. The other reason children use bad language, is because of popular culture. A lot of movies and music videos today have cool characters that use swear words freely. And children are easily influenced by such antics on television and they adopt this behaviour to seek attention and acceptance among peers. Uncensored television viewing can therefore be really harmful for your child. Influences for Foul Language There could be a number of influences that make your child pick up the bad habit of using foul language. Some of them are: Elder kids in the neighbourhood School friends A relative or family member who does not watch his language in front of children Uncensored movies Any environment that he is part of regularly e.g. the clubhouse, trains, buses, etc All these situations and places could be the cause of your childs behaviour. What you need to do is; firstly, identify the place and person from whom he is learning such words. Once you have done this, either remove that influence completely or tackle the cause as best suitable. For e.g. if its a foul mouthed relative, you can speak to him. If elder children are using bad language, you can discuss the situation with their parents. Talk to Your Child Remember that the habit of using bad words is mostly a phase that disappears with time. But if not tackled right away, it could be a permanent fixture on your childs personality. The best way to take care of this situation is by giving the child what he wants most - to be treated as an adult. You need to sit down and explain to him what harm bad language could do to him and the rest of the family. Tell him how abusive language is not a sign of rebellion but one of bad upbringing. Children will not have trouble understanding the situation once you explain to them the ill-effects of foul language on their character. Tell him how difficult it is to undo what people think of him once they have seen him use bad language. Thus, you can control the language that your child uses. All it takes is a bit of love and attention and your child will soon quit the habit!
It is quite common nowadays to see children as young as 8 or 9 years of age use the kind of foul language you would only hear in B-Grade movies. What has brought about this change in our children? Most adults today would not even know the meaning of most of these swear words! But the kids clearly do. So let's take a look at what influences your child to use swear words and what you can do to put a stop to it. What Makes Children Swear?
The biggest reason for children using foul language is peer
pressure. A lot of children swear to imitate the popular kids in school or in the local neighbourhood. This sort of behaviour begins mostly with feelings of rebellion. The children feel that swearing brings them on par with adults. And children imitate their peers without much thought, therefore taking up this bad habit.
The other reason children use bad language, is because of popular culture. A lot of movies and music videos today have 'cool' characters that use swear words freely. And children are easily influenced by such antics on television and they adopt this behaviour to seek attention and acceptance among peers. Uncensored television viewing can therefore be really harmful for your child.
Influences for Foul Language
There could be a number of influences that make your child pick up the bad habit of using foul language. Some of them are:
- Elder kids in the neighbourhood
- School friends
- A relative or family member who does not watch his language in front of children
- Uncensored movies
- Any environment that he is part of regularly e.g. the clubhouse, trains, buses, etc
All these situations and places could be the cause of your child's behaviour. What you need to do is; firstly, identify the place and person from whom he is learning such words. Once you have done this, either remove that influence completely or tackle the cause as best suitable. For e.g. if it's a foul mouthed
relative, you can speak to him. If elder children are using bad language, you can discuss the situation with their parents.
Talk to Your Child
Remember that the habit of using bad words is mostly a phase that disappears with time. But if not tackled right away, it could be a permanent fixture on your child's personality. The best way to take care of this situation is by giving the child what he wants most - to be treated as an adult.
You need to sit down and explain to him what harm bad language could do to him and the rest of the family. Tell him how abusive language is not a sign of rebellion but one of bad upbringing. Children will not have trouble understanding the situation once you explain to them the ill-effects of foul language on their character. Tell him how difficult it is to undo what people think of him once they have seen him use bad language.
Thus, you can control the language that your child uses. All it takes is a bit of love and attention and your child will soon quit the habit!
