Nobody wants to hear their kindergartener dropping f-bombs, but new research suggests a lot of U.S. parents are actually pretty relaxed about their kids cursing. The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked moms and dads of kids and teens how they feel about children swearing and it turns out, fewer than half believe it’s never acceptable for children to use profanity.
According to the survey of 1,678 parents with kids between the ages of six and 17, 47% say it’s never okay for kids to use swear words. But 35% believe it depends on the situation, 12% think it depends on the word and 6% say swear words are no big deal.
- Moms and dads of teenagers are more likely to say it depends on the situation, while those with younger kids (ages six to 12) are more likely to say it’s never okay.
- Nearly half (44%) say that their child never swears and a third (32%) say their kid rarely does.
- But a quarter admit their child swears occasionally or frequently.
- Parents of teens are much more likely to report their kid swears at least occasionally (37%) than parents of younger kids (14%).
- Some parents think their kid curses out of habit (41%), to fit in with other kids (37%), to be funny (36%), or to get attention (21%), or because “it’s just the way kids talk these days” (27%).
- Over half (58%) of the parents in the poll feel parents are responsible for their kids’ swearing.
- When their kid does drop a curse word, responses from moms and dads range from telling them to stop (41%) to explaining why they don’t like it (38%) to ignoring it (14%). Only 6% punish their kid for swearing by giving them chores or grounding them.
- Almost two-thirds (65%) of parents claim their kids learn swear words from friends or classmates, while 58% think popular media is the source and nearly half point to themselves (45%) or other family members (44%) for introducing profanity.
- To limit their kid’s exposure to swearing, parents try to limit their own cursing (57%), restricting certain media (39%), asking others not to swear around their child (28%) or even discouraging certain friendships (20%).⠀
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Scott's Thoughts:
- Is swearing a hard no in your house or does it depend on the situation?
- I got smacked for cussing as a kid, then a switch on the legs.
- My kids got their mouths washed with soap for cussing.