03 September 2023 , 08:16
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Whether it is from a movie, a video game, an overheard conversation or their friends at school, kids can unfortunately learn some of the most controversial and offensive words in the English language all too easily. Whilst some people may not see an issue with children using swear words, others find it offensive and disrespectful.
And one man was left mortified when he recently heard his neighbours' children using foul language, as he explained he could hear the kids - aged 12, eight, and six - swearing from their garden. The language they used left the man questioning his neighbours' parenting skills, and he even said it was teaching them negative "life goals".
In a post on Reddit, the man said: "Even the occasional C-bomb can be heard. Am I being out of touch? Is this the new level of parenting to just allow such things? [The] parents don't say a thing when these kids swear. It forms part of their 'normal' dialogue it seems. I don't get it. Why would you go through the effort of having three kids, to have them speak like that, especially to you, as their parent? What life goals are you teaching them?"
Reflecting on their own parenting as well as their upbringing, they added: "Do I let my six-year-old swear? Not a chance. If he swore at me? Game over. There's an appropriate age for swearing. My Mum and Dad wouldn't bat an eyelid at me swearing now and our frequent conversations are full of them! But when I was younger? I would have got the wooden spatula treatment."
Before signing off and debating with other Reddit users in the comments, the offended neighbour added an anecdote. They said: "It seems a lot of parents now don't discipline for these sorts of things anymore because they don't want to be hypocritical. I once dated a girl whose parents were like this. They refused to give out to their son smoking weed in the garden because they openly said 'Well, we smoked weed when we were younger, so what can we say?' That boy soon became a man, hooked on amphetamines.”
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Some commenters agreed that Redditor was not out of touch and that his feelings were justified. One said: "Bad parents goanna parent badly," and another added: "As an adult, I still never swear in front of my mum, let alone at her."
However, other parents had a difference in opinion. One wrote: "We taught my stepson it's okay to swear sometimes (e.g., stubbing your toe and an exclamation coming out). But the key thing is making it appropriate given the context. We figure he was always gonna hear it at school, so we may as well teach what's appropriate and what isn't to the best of our abilities."
Another added: "I think it's all about context, motive and understanding that some people find it offensive. If used without malice or offence it really is just another word."