Would you tell a child off / tell them not to say ‘ oh god ‘ or ‘ jeez ‘?

[haveyubin]

is this like swearing ?

I think my DD said Jeez once in front her aunty, who told her not to say it. She’s 5.

on my way home tonight I said ‘ oh god ‘ at a traffic situation and my kids repeated it.

and it made me think that I hope they don’t repeat it.

I have heard my other nephews and nieces ( from a different SIL ) say this and I didn’t think to correct them on it ( especially as their parents were there ).

I hadn’t really noticed my DD saying it a lot at all. But her aunt did pick up on it. Anyway then it made me think in the car today that I don’t want my kids saying it in case there are other people who think it’s bad for kids to say this kind of stuff. Of course I refrain from swearing but the occasional ‘ oh god ‘ or ‘ jeez ‘ slips out.

thoughts ?

Definitely. They need to learn at the earliest age possible that these words are unacceptable and they should not swear. These words are offensive and no different to other swear words.

I’m not religious at all and use both of those phrases regularly (and am ashamed to admit, as another poster, I never considered what ‘oh jeez’ actually meant until today 😳). I am however trying to encourage my son to say ‘gosh’ instead of ‘god’ (when saying ‘oh my’ for example) because he attends a CofE school and because I realise it might offend others if he says it within that environment. But I personally don’t consider it swearing or something to get worked up about!

We say, "oh gods," instead in our household, as we find monotheism patriarchal and misogynistic. I see no problem with blasphemy as any god who's bothered by it must be a bit pathetic anyway. Any swearing is fine with us, as long as it's not misogynist and not name-calling (i.e. bloody hell or oh fuck are fine, but not you fucker or you bloody idiot).

Love this approach.

What do American kids have to do with it?

My gran didn't like us saying "my god" but I couldn't care less with mine saying it. They don't really swear, at least not in front of me, but I think these days it's just a normal phrase for most people rather than being seen as blasphemy

Jeez Louise!

I tend to say "God knows" rather than "fuck knows" when I'm at work and one particular religious nut job insists on saying "he does!" if she overhears me.

Could be worse one of my friends thinks it's hilarious that her young granddaughter tells everyone "it's frigging raining". I nearly choked when she told me and wanted to ask if shew knew what the word meant. I didn't have the courage.

Considering I said about a colleague yesterday “Jesus Christ, why can’t they just answer the sodding question!!”, I’d be on dodgy ground.

I’m a raging atheist, so didn’t care if they did say it when they were younger. If I tried telling them now, they’d probably just laugh.

Not at all. However I'd tell them to avoid saying it at school.

Genuinely don’t find it offensive at all. Jeez isn’t even a word, it’s just a noise lol. Some people just look for reasons to correct others.

I don't allow that kind of thing in my house and my children and grandchildren are aware of that. I tell them that what they do when they're not in my house is not up to me, but it is offensive to take the Lord's name in vain - in just the same way that it is offensive to people of religions other than Christianity. I wouldn't allow them to say things that are offensive to other religions either.

Luckily my grandchildren don't yet use proper swear words, but I won't allow that in my house either. Some people on here may think I am a prig - but I don't think it's necessary and it shows a total lack of respect. By not allowing bad language in my house it makes them aware that it is not, in fact, 'normal' to swear all the time and, I hope, it may make them think a little when in social situations, work, or other people's homes.

Not at all . Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. People are offended by anything these days and need to bore off. Simple

Who was the absolute sad sack who got my post deleted? Typical - so called Christians always happy to harp on about how other people should behave but as soon as they get any criticism, it’s instant victim mentality and “ooooh we’re being attacked “. Sad.

I think it bothers people who are religious. My son went to a catholic school and said oh god once. The headteacher heard him and told him not to use gods name in vain. He was also 5.
i try to encourage him to say gosh instead. It doesn’t bother me but can see it would maybe bother others

I’m not seeing the issue here.

I use both of those words frequently.

And I say this as a Christian.

Laughing so hard cos I've just said the same! I'm 54! 😄 NEVER crossed my mind, obviously 'Oh God' can be offensive but 'jeez' I think of from old films ie 'oh jeez Louise's comments.

I'd probably have a road about an oh god comment but couldn't get upset over jeez.

Agreed.

We have a 6 year old. Her grandparents are both vicars. She's learned they don't like it but we don't tell her off.
We have no religion in this house so she is naturally learning how some people don't like it and some people don't mind it.
I would absolutely have issue with someone telling my child off due to their beliefs.

I have much more issue with the words she picks up at school like idiot and shut up! Not swear words but much ruder imo!

I think if it’s something you say regularly you can’t expect your children to not repeat it.

Really? You think all swear words are on a par with each other? That must make for some interesting interpretations of conversations.

And it feels like a shame to be so simplistic. One of the great things about language is its capacity for nuance and shades of grey.

Personally I have zero problem with ‘oh gosh’ or ‘jeez’. But then again I love the phrase ‘Jesus fucking Christ’ so I’m probably not the person to ask.

When my daughter was 5 we told her there were some words/phrases that Grandma wouldn't like to hear. Or her reception teacher. She soon learned to self-regulate 😀

I had to ask my wee one to stop saying “Jesus Christ!” 🙈 He got it from me so I really shouldn’t have been saying it in from of him.

I think Jeez is absolutely fine.

Me too 😂

I don't think it's offensive and both my kids say oh my god. DS also doesn't seem to be able to say no, he's says 'hell no bruh' 😑

I’m a Christian and try to avoid using phrases like OMG and my - now adult - dc know I prefer not to hear it from them, but I don’t police it (18 year old ds is a staunch agnostic and just as likely to invoke Zeus as Jesus!) I wouldn’t consider jeez to be blasphemous though, in fact a lot of words like gosh, jeez, etc came about from attempts to avoid blasphemy. I would discourage it in primary age dc simply because they might get told off for using it at school (I got quite the telling for saying ‘damn’ as a small child, and was very confused as my dm used it interchangeably with drat and I had no idea of the connotation).