My policy is swearing is this: It's not the words one uses that are offensive; it's how those words are used.The way I see it, people can be just as nasty without vulgar language as they can be with a cornucopia of curses, often nastier.
Take this sentence for example:
"F*** this math homework!"
Are these words mean-spirited? Not at all. They are simply expressing extreme frustration over math homework and are not directed toward any person. In this case, profanity is perfectly okay.
However, this statement is completely different:
"I hope you f***ing drown!"
Here, the person speaking is using the f-word to enhance an already cruel sentence. This is an awful thing to say, not because of the particular words being said, but because of what those words mean.
Now, I don't swear a lot personally. I think strong language should be used only for strong feelings or it sort of loses its effect and makes a person sound unintelligent and lacking in eloquence. And I'm too much of a goody-goody to ever use the f-bomb, aside from one time when I was two and I repeated it after my father not knowing it was a bad word. But it's perfectly fine with me if other people want to curse, as long as they aren't cursing to be mean.
Now, to elaborate on the title of this post, this blog is for my Catholic Morality class (which you probably already knew, as I doubt anybody reading this does not go to school with me), so I have to keep things family-friendly. With all the hype about ACTA, everybody is vehemently defending freedom of speech these days. I totally get that. But here's the thing: freedom of speech, freedom in general, applies to the real world, not the classroom. I also have to wear a uniform to school, a requirement that the majority of jobs do not have, but I have no complaints about that (and that's not just because uniforms save me the stress of choosing what to wear every day). If the President of the United States made a law that everyone in the country had to dress identically, that would certainly be a violation of personal liberties, but that's not what's going on here. A school, especially a private school, is like a gated community, and it can make rules that might be considered totalitarian if infringed on the majority of the population because it has a reputation to uphold.
Two days ago, I went to the big basketball game between my school and our biggest rivals. In the heat of the moment, I thoughtlessly yelled out a certain something that I now regret. I didn't swear, but what I said was still kind of tasteless. I know pretty much everyone else there was doing the same thing, and the other school was much ruder, but a lot of people heard what I said because the whole area around me just happened to be quiet when I said it (Just my luck, right?), and not all of those people were classmates who knew I would not normally act in such a way and that the worst in me came out during that game. There were a ton of adults I didn't know sitting near me, and I felt so embarrassed that they heard the insult I threw at the opposing school. I felt like I was reflecting my school poorly and making myself look no better than the people on the opposite side booing during foul shots. I know I am much classier than those people, but for that one brief moment, I wasn't acting like it, and I will be kicking myself for that forever.
That's why teachers don't want students speaking impolitely. They're not trying to take away freedom of speech; they merely want their school to look respectable. I don't want my school to be thought of the same way as the trashy public school near me either. Do you?
If not swearing is too difficult for you, try some of these substitutes, conveniently used in example sentences:
- "Holy Twilight Saga, that is an ugly shirt!"
- "That is such a load of iPhone batteries."
- "My brother is a total derpface."
- "Where the Dinkleberg did I put my keys?"
- "Oh, Spencer Pratt! I stubbed my toe!"
