Profanity and School Children| Why do school going children use foul language?

Using abusive words has become a common thing in children. While addressing each other, children blurt out abusive words which have become a part of their conversation just like dal-roti. They do not even apologise at any point of time for using such words as this is something they are too used to.

Why do children use foul language? Why is profanity so much a part of their routine? In the past few years or maybe longer, the use of dirty slangs has become so popular that those who have never used these would actually run away from the scene. Their ears feel hot after abusive language lands on them.

Children have been swearing a lot, probably to get attention or probably they are merely learning new words without even knowing the meanings of those words. But where do they hear these words? In school, in respective residential colonies or at home? Is television or are the movies responsible for the spreading profanity? The answer is all of these.

Even grown-ups use a lot of abusive words which really sound disturbing, irritating and mostly annoying to the extreme. But no one dares to stop anyone from using these unparliamentary terms. Children are also picking these terms and you can find them using these when with other children in parks, playing in groups, and even while in school.

The usage of dirty words is actually on the rise in children. They feel like they would look too outdated if they don’t do what others do and language is the first thing that they adopt. Foul words that have been rolling around are too intolerable and spell out all types of vulgarity. It is quite surprising that parents do not even know that their children are using “fashionable” language that actually stinks. “Fashionable” because that is what is being used even on the social media with pride.

I was taken aback a few months back when a group of children in a residential area were adding these typical abusive abbreviations ahead of the names of the other kids in the group and was not even scared of people moving around. What was more shocking is that none of the elders even paid attention to them or probably chose to stay away from any kind of possible insult. And when I did interfere, all I heard from them was “Arey Aunty…(laughter) sorry” and the moment I warned them and turned it was all heard again as if a tape was playing in a loop.

We need to keep a check on the children, the language they use, the stuff they watch over the internet on their personal mobiles. People are going to advice me now that I need to get used to this as this is how this world is going…but I am only going to ask everyone with folded hands to eradicate this issue of profanity by teaching something good to the kids. (If I could get used to nonsense, I wouldn’t be writing all this here.)

We must explain to the children what the foul words mean and that they must not be using them at all. Once the child gets to understand the meaning, there are all the possibilities that the numbers of bad language users would reduce from 10 to 8, gradually turning to 0 but for this we all need to be well prepared and have the guts to explore the ways to explain to our kids-as friends first and then as parents.