I went to high school with a girl who had never been in trouble but had always been curious about what went on in the Dean's office. Finally, in her last week as a senior, she asked the English teacher what one would have to do to get sent to the Dean. Cussing brought ten demerits for every letter of the swear word, so this girl giggled and then triumphantly announced the shortest swear word she knew; the teacher sent her down to the Dean to collect her thirty demerits. That's the only instance I can think of in all my years of schooling where someone cussed in class.

So far I've been cussed at twice as a substitute.

If you're reading this and you're a parent, I hope your kids know better than to swear in class, both directly to the teacher or to other students (I heard the m-f word yesterday from across the room.) Or that they know the proper way to ask to use the restroom (hint: it's not "hey, lady, I gotta pee.") Or that they don't start fistfights in the classroom (I broke two of those up today.)

I never would've dreamed of acting this unruly, even with some of our most hated subs. I don't know what the deal is with kids today, but I'm not optimistic about my desire to create one of these beasts.

Posted by: Sarah at 10:35 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 WOW.I went to catholic school for 12 years and i never cursed at a teacher publicly.there was no sooner trip to the dean's office than doing that.I don't think you can totally blame kid's parents for their language though.i cuss like a sailor to this day.i also did as a kid.I guess with cable tv and music today cussing seems to be an acceptable form of communication.that's how young people probably look at it.

Posted by: tommy at September 13, 2005 11:54 AM (NMK3S)

2 Sorry to hear that some things never change. I remember the first time I was cursed out in front of a class by a 12 year old! He stood up and told to to F*** Off . . . my mouth must have hit the ground. He was suspended for 3 days but was right back in the classroom . . . it was downhill the rest of the quarter. Eight years later I still remember his name and wonder if he is in jail. It really is sad for me to think kids act this way . . . my parents would have locked me up if I even thought about using those words.

Posted by: H. Sims at September 13, 2005 12:23 PM (iii6W)

3 Depending on the age of the kids, I blame the parents. My daughter is 4 and her dad works in construction. For some reason he uses one swear word fairly regularly. Rather than try to 'fix' my ex we decided on a game : if she catches him swearing, he gives her a quarter. She loves it, and she knows those words are bad. Some parents don't really do much about keeping some sort of authority. They also figure the teachers are going to create a new kid during school hours. A child in and of itself is not a bad creature, it is the parents that fuck them up.

Posted by: Julie at September 13, 2005 01:08 PM (w7n+v)

4 I'm going to have to agree. It is the parents. I use every word in the book on a regular basis, yet I haven't heard a single utterance from my children in years. I had a talk with each of them after they dropped their first curseword. They know what is acceptable and what isn't. My 11 yr old had invited some friends over to play video games last week. He and I were upstairs, when I caught a barely audible "Damn" from the kids downstairs. He immediately went downstairs "to tell those guys to quiet down." He gave them a quick hushed lecture and then said loudly, "Now be quiet." Then he came back upstairs to finish what he was doing. I never said a word. Didn't have to. The kids that curse to teachers know there are no consequences for their actions ultimately. Even if they get suspended, it's just a couple days off from school to them. The parents are obviously not enforcing any kind of discipline at home.

Posted by: Mob at September 13, 2005 01:23 PM (f+cPk)

5 Of course it's the parents fault. When I let a few bad words slip out of my mouth I immediately turn to my daughter and tell her how wrong I was to say such bad words, in fact I had to apologize twice to her and her friend. Once for saying the word dam at school and once for calling the kid lying to me a little shit. Well I didn't call him that until I got into my car, but my daughter heard me say it. Anything goes now on TV. I can't even watch a sitcom anymore. The minute the word bitch is said the TV goes off, or she made to leave the room... Too bad you can't stuff a bar of soap in thier mouth, that might do the trick..

Posted by: Beth at September 13, 2005 01:42 PM (d3xOK)

6 So if someone had said the m__ f__ word in your school, would they have gotten 120 demerits or only 60? After all, the first half isn't really a swear word. Just to get back to politics, I blame it all on Cheney telling Leahy "go f__ yourself" on the Senate floor. The kids are only following his example.

Posted by: Pericles at September 13, 2005 09:22 PM (EpPuP)

7 I'm very proud of my son. My oldest can be playing Halo 2 on XBox Live, get fragged and will pull a Yosemite Sam rather than cuss. My youngest won't cuss at all in our presence. I, of course, refrain from cussing around them, though Halo 2 will occasionally pull half a cuss from my lips before I squelch the rest of the word. On the other hand I have always prided myself in my ability to cuss creatively without having to resort to the F-word for most of my cussing. As an aside, moderation in cussing makes actually cussing that much more powerful. When you have something actually worth cussing about, and you cuss everyone you work with stops and pays attention. Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at September 13, 2005 09:57 PM (9RG5y)

8 The deal with children today is the parents today. My oldest is eight and isn't allowed to even say "crap." Do I have a tendency to cuss? Oh yeah. I admit that I could embarrass a sailor in a bar given a tirade lol, but my children know what is acceptable and what is not. When they are grown, pay their own bills and live under their own roof, they too can cuss like a biker on a drinking binge when pissed. Until then, my house, my rules. Life's not fair in this house lol and I do not run a democracy. I'm also close to middle age and still RARELY EVER let a curse word slip to my own Mother . It's called respect...something everyone seems to want these days, yet few feel they need to earn. Children today are not taught the basics by their parents, much less anything else. It takes too much time to be consistent, set standards and enforce them. It is much easier to ignore them, put them in front of a TV or let them run the streets. No suprise many children don't have a chance in life - much less know how to behave themselves in school or anywhere else for that matter. Too many parents are failing their children and are too lazy to even care .

Posted by: Shannon at September 13, 2005 10:45 PM (sHJxX)

9 You should be glad that you're not part of the educational reform taking place in an English city where swearing at the teacher is permitted so long as the students don't do it more than five times per class.

Posted by: TangoMan at September 14, 2005 12:30 AM (EPVvR)

10 "Children today are not taught the basics by their parents, much less anything else. It takes too much time to be consistent, set standards and enforce them. It is much easier to ignore them, put them in front of a TV or let them run the streets. No suprise many children don't have a chance in life - much less know how to behave themselves in school or anywhere else for that matter. Too many parents are failing their children and are too lazy to even care ." Yep. And it's more than just swearing. Some of the punk kids in my martial arts class (back when I was taking it) had no sense of decency or respect. If you were older than they were, they treated you like dirt. They had absolutely no idea what it meant to be an adult and what the world will expect of them. And when I say "kids" I'm talking about 18 and 19 year olds. It amazes me how parents don't bother teaching their children how to behave. Most of these kids will eventually learn the hard way (they might even end up doing time). If you want a worst case scenario...well, remember Columbine?

Posted by: CT at September 14, 2005 03:06 PM (KV/Mz)

11 The proper response is to expel the miscreant from the class and to explain to the principal that if the kid comes back you are gone.

Posted by: Walter_E_Wallis at September 14, 2005 04:22 PM (wDJE+)

12 So if someone had said the m__ f__ word in your school, would they have gotten 120 demerits or only 60? After all, the first half isn't really a swear word. Just to get back to politics, I blame it all on Cheney telling Leahy "go f__ yourself" on the Senate floor. The kids are only following his example. Posted by Pericles at September 14, 2005 02:22 AM Pericles...pull your head out of your fourth point of contact. (Sarah, ask your hubby about this one) A loss of civility has been going on for a long time...the "up your nose with a rubber hose" Vinnie Barbarino line from "Welcome Back Kotter" was a start. Rather than point the finger of blame at the Vice President, why don't we look to Hollywood and their buddies on the left for the real source of the problem. Next look to some parents that have forgotten the power of the "soap." See you on the high ground. MajorDad1984

Posted by: MajorDad1984 at September 25, 2005 10:54 AM (tdEnf)

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