If you confront your kids about profanity, would they respond by saying, “I learned it from you, Dad!” like those old drug PSAs?
A poll asked parents of children 6 to 17 years old about their attitudes on kids swearing, and 47% of parents say profanity is never okay, 35% feel it depends on the situation, 12% think it depends on the word, and 6% say swear words are no big deal.
Parents of teenagers (ages 13 to 17) are more likely to say it depends on the situation, while parents of younger children (ages 6 to 12) are more likely to say swearing is never cool.
Most parents claim their child never (44%) or rarely (32%) uses profanity, however, 24% say their child swears occasionally or frequently.
Why do they do it? 41% say their kids are using bad words “out of habit”, 37% say it’s to “fit in” with other kids, 36% say they’re trying to be funny, 21% say they’re trying to get attention, and 27% say “it’s just the way kids talk these days.” (???)
So where do they learn this stuff?
65% of parents think their child learns profanity from friends or classmates, 58% say they get it from “popular media”, and 45% of parents admit that they probably learned it from hearing THEM use those words.
