To hate it when people swear in front of young children?

[Runny]

Namely their own young children? It makes toes curl!

Just popped into my local Chinese takeaway. Also waiting was a young couple with a little boy who must have been aged around 4/5. Im not joking when I say every single word was 'fuck' this and 'fuck' that. Just in general conversation even when speaking to and telling off their little boy, who wasn't misbeahing as such was just getting a bit over excited. Even telling him to 'stop fucking running around'.

There is just no need for it, it's so uncouth and shows a blatant lack of self control. Now don't get me wrong I can swear with the best of them, but I never ever swear in front of children of any age. Never have and never will. The worst I ever heard my parents say growing up was 'bloody'. It's becoming more common, I even heard a mother telling her daughter to 'get in the fucking car' outside the local school the other week.

AIBU to think these people should learn some self control?

I swear in front of my kids and I'm not sorry. And I agree with above posters; there is a fucking huge difference between swearing in front of children, and swearing at children. Fuck you, you cunts, to all those who think differently.

iam my DD is 3 and going through a stage where she picks up everything everyone says and repeats it, she went through a "bugger" phase after overhearing it recently. I just think it's bad manners and it wouldn't hurt for people to be a little more courteous to those around them.

My SIL swears like a trooper, even in normal conversation. Eg "I went round the fucking corner and there he fucking was".
My DS (10 you with aspergers, so has a tendency to say what he is thinking ) says
"Auntie J, we're not allowed to say that word. It's rude". She's never sworn again in front of him.

Driving nutters can reduce anyone to swear... Incl school run mums.....

I believe that a well-timed swear word can be immensely satisfying to express the precise degree of one's pissed-offness. (I initially wrote "a well-timed 'fuck'," but that might imply something else entirely.) OTOH, constant, unthinking swearing of the "fucking this and fucking that" variety just seems a symptom of the coarsening of the general culture.

I don't think it's precious to expect people to moderate their language around young children. We all tailor our language to our audience to one extent or another. But I suppose the greater openness WRT swearing in films, etc. has given the green light to some people that swearing is fine at all times and in all settings.

It's no surprise to me that PPs have mentioned class. Not because it's relevant to the topic (it isn't) but because class is at the heart of nearly every discussion about social mores in the U.K.

I work in the kind of industry where swearing is endemic (usually affectionate)

What like? 'I love you, you stupid fucking twat.'

I don't think it has anything to do with class, or how you use swaer words around children. I just don't find it a nice or necessary way to talk, when children are around. They shouldn't be exposed to words like fuck, twat, cunt etc. Let them keep thei innocence for a bit eh.

I agree with you OP that peppering sentences with swearing around young children is not pleasant and would make me feel uncomfortable, in the same way that I wouldn't swear in front of an elderly lady. However, I do agree that swearing can be very expressive in the right context, such as when I am noting my displeasure with my laptop at work, particularly when email crashes for the umpteenth time in a day. Using language appropriately in the right context is fine.

Interestingly, I seem to have scraped through without any major lapses at home as DD (10) claims not to know any swear words. She told me that a friend at school told her that the f-word was written underneath a desk, she had a look, but couldn't see a word beginning with 'f' and still doesn't know what it is. I think that I will encourage her to watch some more adult TV soon so she isn't too naive, kids are a bit sheltered these days given the kid's channels etc. Something like stand up comedy should widen her vocab nicely!

I love a good swear. DP hates it around DCs but as PP have said, you sound stupid when every other word is an expletive, but they really help when you want to have a good swear!
I told DD, then about 6, that we could only swear in the car (getting cut up or lost) or if you hurt yourself really badly.
I challenge anyone to stub their toe on a stone hearth and not swear!

I swear around my children. Not every other word at all but I do swear.

My teens swear occasionally. My 7 and 9 year old have never swore around me and I have no reason to suspect they do elsewhere. My teens also didn't swear around me until they were teens.

I would not swear around other people's children though.

My mum never let us swear, I still wouldn't swear around her today. If I said fart or knackered I would get told off.

Funnily enough, her three adult children swear a hell of a lot now.

I find the whole concept of swear words ridiculous (particularly when their censored in written form, which is hilariously precious). I dont swear a great deal but would have no issue with people swearing in front on my children. I avoid swearing in front of other people's children though, because some people are sensitive to it.

Prince Phillip swears. I wouldn't say that he was common. HTH.

I do hate it when people are really aggressive towards their kids constantly, especially for really minor things. There's a woman who gets the same train as me with about 5 kids constantly screaming at them really aggressively for really minor stuff. I do actually feel sorry for the mum too as she always looks totally exhausted, overwhelmed and miserable :(.

Like PP I can and do swear, but in front of children/parents/elders etc? Surely it's just a matter of respect? I wouldn't have dreamt of swearing in front of parents, elderly people etc let alone children. I lived in a small town growing up and the only adults who swore in public were the likes of those who would drink cans on streets and some of those whose parents didn't work. That's not being 'snobby', it's just as I saw it.

What really flummoxes me though (is that even a word?!) is people that actually type a swear word?? why? I don't get that

I am from a working class family and we hate swearing around children. I grew up on a story of our grandad sat on a train with my nan and 2 young daughters and some men were swearing loudly. My grandad told them to stop so they set upon him. They didn't know my grandad was a boxer . Still carry his values to this day - he never had much money but he was a hero to us.

I find swearing offensive; we don't swear at home. I have asked people to mind their language whilst out with children in a childrens environment.

I have been know to occasionally drop profanities in front of my D.C. And they know full well to never ever ever use that type of language at school . So far -so good

I do swear sometimes because I want DC to know that it's OK to swear sometimes.

I think you risk a child swearing a lot whether you ban it or whether you drop the f bomb into every other sentence. A more moderate approach where swearing is OK sometimes when expressing emotions probably lends itself to a more healthy use of language.

It's brand new- really only in the last 5/10 years has it become acceptable to swear in public. I noticed it in NY in 2013 overhearing people saying 'I was like fuck, no!' and thought that's interesting you'd never have hear that when I was there 10 years previously, noticed it everywhere in England the following week.
The only time I've heard it challenged was in a bar in Australia 10 years ago, bar workers would regularly tell punter to 'tone it down mate'

I swear frequently, I was raised with it. I do attempt to modify my behaviour around very young children though, because swearing is about context, and young children have no understanding of the appropriate context of swearing.
Having said that, they are really just words, and part of the common vernacular whether you like it or not. There is a place for swearing in life imho, however, perhaps at the mum and toddler group might not be the best place

I tend to err with others here, in that I just cant get too worked up about it unless its excessive.

I think people are far too sensitive to swearing. I swear in front of my children (not at them, big difference). My oldest, who is 8, has never repeated it. She has only ever been told that they're grown up words and she can use them when she is grown up enough to know when and where they are appropriate (no need for gratuitous swearing, ever).

I find 'fuck' a very satisfying word to say angrily in the right situation, but...

The teenagers I work with have every effing sentence pepperered with effing effings and it's unpleasant to listen to.

I dislike parents casually swearing in front of kids - but worse is that it's often angry when it needn't be; "get in the effing car!".

I once heard a threeish year old in a buggy say 'Daddy, I need a shit' and that sounded reeaally wrong...

Agreed Ray I think the same, mine know that they can swear when they are older too, but not now, because they dont grasp the significance of the words to others and how they are meant to be used ISWIM.

Of course you shouldn't swear in front of young children. It is disgusting. I wouldn't use strong expletives in front of my parents out of respect and I'm in my late 30's.