Cursing, swearing, bad language, however you phrase it, the words that fly out of a child’s mouth can be filthy and inappropriate in so many ways. Many would be stunned at the words children say – as young as preschool and kindergarten – but teachers often have gotten to where nothing surprises them anymore.
How to discourage cursing in the classroom can be a tricky issue because usually at the root of the foul language, are emotions that are raging out of control. These words are the way their parents and friends have taught them to handle these crazy feelings and they know no other way.
Because of this, calling home or sending a note home is likely to fall on deaf ears, or in the worst case scenario, you’ll hear worse language through the phone in response to your interruption of the parent’s life.
Instead, it is time for you to step up and take the place of the parent and teach the child how to manage their emotions. The positive thing about kids who swear in the classroom is that they are willing to let their emotions out – providing a platform for teaching, whereas students who keep everything bottled inside often fly under the radar and are many times not helped.
Action Point for Curbing Swear Words in the Classroom
It’s time to break out those dictionaries and begin expanding the vocabulary of the students in your class. Start by translating the phrases that the student uses. Often, over time, this can solve the problem all by itself. Here’s an illustration:
Mrs. Smith “please put your pencil down, it is time to clean up and go to specials”
Student:”x8(3#^&@!(“
Mrs. Smith (DO NOT REACT TO THE SWEAR WORDS!!!! STAY CALM!!): “Mrs. Smith! I wasn’t finished yet! I hate it when you don’t give me enough time to finish what I was working on! (PAUSE) I’m sorry Johnnie, I understand that it is frustrating, why don’t you bring your lunch back to the classroom and I’ll help you finish so that you can go out to recess with your friends.”
This is just one example, and probably a poor one, but the point is to translate what the student said into something more appropriate, then respond to the frustration. This might increase the language problem at first, but one teacher has told me that over time in her classroom, the language slowly gave way to more appropriate exclamations of frustration. This then gave her the opportunity to better understand her students and how to help them.
You can also give the student a dictionary when they use a choice word and instruct him or her to come up with an alternative. Make the assignment non-negotiable, but consider giving extra credit if the student can find a way to use the new word in context.
Any other ideas for curbing a cursing tongue in the classroom?
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