Niños Curiosos, Mentores Creativos

Today we will comment on children who begin to swear (either at school or at home).

The first thing we should be aware of is that children learn swearing primarily from the following sources:

+ their own home! And for this we invite you to make a simple reflection: how many swear words do we say consciously or unconsciously at home? Or how many swear words are said in the children’s family environment by relatives such as siblings, uncles, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents?

+ Social networks: it is becoming more and more frequent that even in children’s programs or videos swear words are used, and even more so when children watch videos that are not for children,

+ school: our children also learn both good and bad things from their classmates, and this also applies in the case of swearing.

In our personal case we recognize that in our home we do say certain rude things occasionally and our son learned them from us: little by little we have tried to correct this as parents.

And we also recognize that our son learned certain rudeness (which in his home is honestly not mentioned) from his schoolmates.

And now a key question: if our son or daughter has already learned to swear, what can we do so that they learn not to swear in certain places and circumstances?

Here are some tips according to what we researched on the subject:

+ explain to the child in a simple and direct way that there are places and times when certain words are not appropriate,

+ explain to the child the meaning and context of the swear words they have learned (this has worked well in our case),

+ avoid scolding the child in public if they say something rude in an inappropriate place and/or time, and instead try to explain in private why that was not correct,

+ teach the child alternative words or expressions that they can use instead of swearing (this has also worked for us).

In any of the above tips it is important to be aware that they require patience and perseverance.

As always, the recommendation we make to our readers: seek professional advice (either from your children’s teachers or from experts in the field) in case you want to know more about the subject or need specific help.

If you would like us to write more about this or related topics, feel free to send us an email.

See you soon!