To think children shouldn't be swearing in primary school

I think it depends on the demographics etc.. no swearing when i was in primary school, nor have I hear/heard of any swearing amongst my 3DC at their primary over 7 years....

How do you know there's no consequences? This is extremely unlikely. It's probably just that your child doesn't know or see what consequence is put in place.

Of course all children swear, but I wouldn't want to hear it, and if I was a teacher I would punish a child for swearing I heard them. The problem the OP has is that if the teacher isn't there when it happens then it's her child's word against the others.

I think you need to accept that some kids and sone families for swear. It is pretty obvious that school does not condone this but other than sanction when they do hear it they are not going to be able to stop it. Like others have said swearing aggressively at someone in a threatening way should be dealt with differently from general poor language with peers in the playground.

I hate hearing adults swearing in front of children. I would not want to hear primary school children swearing, it's bad enough when teenagers do it.

I also think when you are talking about primary school you are talking about 4 year olds and 12 years olds and there is a massive difference.

Like others have said I would differentiate between swearing at something and swearing at someone. I tell my teenage DDs not to swear at anyone but I am known to say FFS under my breath many times and cannot criticise them for doing the same.

It was the school bus where the swearing is the worst and they learnt every swear word going on there. I didn't do anything though until DD2 when she was in year 5 was told to "Fuck off you cunt" on the school bus. I complained to the school and they spoke to her and her friends and then called the parents of the boys and told them if it happened again they wouldn't be allowed on the school bus for a week (which would have a big impact on the parents). This resolved the issue.

I'm really not sure how much a school can do about swearing in general, especially as the kids will have learnt a lot at home, but swearing at people is different.

I hate swearing in primary schools, it shouldn't be normalised

Well it’s not nice, absolutely. And kids should be reprimanded. But if he wasn’t swearing but being aggressive that would also be unacceptable.

Bonkers

DD7 is in year 3 and swearing is treated as a temporary exclusion which involves the child not coming into school for a few days (unless other circumstances eg SEN)

I bet swearing goes on in prep school playgrounds across the country. My DC went to a top, very middle class state primary that parents fought to get into and there was swearing in the playground.

I certainly wouldn’t say primary aged DC swearing is a sign of poor parenting- it could be that they’ve overheard an older sibling or someone on the bus etc.

The issue here should be with the aggression and bullying.

@Dishwashersaurous I cannot believe the tolerance on here. No one I know would put up with this or expect dc to swear at school. You are absolutely correct to expect the school to deal with this. They might be trying to do something but making excuses (adults do it?) just is not good enough. Aggressive swearing behaviour should not be tolerated from anyone - child or adult. If he swore at a teacher they would do something. Your DS is not being protected as he should be.

Hopefully he has pleasant friends. You would not get a prep school tolerating this.

Of course there are reasons and explanations as to why a primary school pupil might swear.

If they hear it at home with their parents then they are going to pick up on it.

It doesn't mean the school should allow it, but there are a multitude of reasons for it, most of which are not actually the child's fault.

Obviously Primary aged children shouldn't be swearing at school but the situation you describe with your son sounds like aggressive bullying. The swearing is the least worrying aspect of it.

Sorry but yes I do think it’s sad. Not so much in secondary school age, I am aware that children will pick up these words and will use them, but at primary age it’s coming from their home environment. For them to use swear words so naturally as part of their language it will be from parents or other family members who swear around their children, or from being allowed to watch tv programs that are too old for them. So yes it is sad that some children are having to grow up in these environments. We’re talking about children age 11 and under here, not teenagers.

you're obsessing over the wrong thing. Children who aren't yours swearing... not the issue. Child bullying your child and being super aggresve to your child... definitely an issue.

Surprised by the amount of people happy with primary school swearing!!
Think I was quite fortunate to be in a fairly sheltered rural school and swearing was really not a thing in primary. I remember it happening a few times from P7s/when I was in P7 and it wasn't tolerated by teachers you definitely would have gotten in trouble if heard!
It's really sad it's obviously so common. My DS learned swear words (F word) in nursery and I was shocked and pretty gutted to be honest! I've heard work colleagues talking about their nursery age DC swearing and think it's funny.

I can assure you that many of them will swear at school.

Many parents think their kid wouldn't swear.

Most are mistaken.

What are they saying and in what context.? Are they bullying or threatening him or calling him names? If so I think that is the issue you should raise with the school rather than the language the child is using.

Swearing covers a lot of ground. Kid saying shit when they miss a penalty is very different from kid calling a girl a bitch.

Swearing is more common in primary age children than you think!

I don’t think it’s particularly sad in comparison to the multitude of other things that go on in schools. I am in a senior professional role and swearing happens occasionally at work.

Obviously DC need to know that swearing is totally inappropriate in some contexts, but I do think we need to move on from some of the pearl clutching around these words.

Swearing is an interesting issue. If the child is swearing aggressively at your son - telling him to fuck off for example then he absolutely should be made to stop.
Saying something like ‘for fucks’ sake’ when something has gone wrong is a grey area. I’m inclined to think that kids need to know what swear words are and that they are so frowned upon in most circumstances as that is exactly what gives those words weight when you truly need them.

For example, I worked with a woman who HATED the word cunt. Really hated it, you knew it disgusted her. Then, one day, when someone had done something pretty awful to her at work she called them a cunt. And we knew how serious she was

There will be different rules for different kids. Some kids at my DS's school can tell teachers and lunch staff to fuck off and only receive a warning. Other kids will loose behavior points for tiny little things. It's not fair and the kids know it. What's the point of a behaviour policy?

(Losing behaviour points is more serious than a warning)