My 7-year-old DS has recently started coming out with some quite inappropriate phrases that are well beyond what I’d expect for his age. One example was talking about “eating penis” (his words), and when we asked where he’d heard it, he said a boy in his class had been saying it at school. He clearly had no idea what it actually meant.
There have been a few other questionable comments over the past few months too, which seem to have come from the same child.
The difficulty is that I know the boy and his mum quite well. We’ve been on a couple of play dates and I’ve seen that he has unsupervised access to YouTube and Xbox in his bedroom. Obviously I don’t know exactly what he’s watching or hearing, but I do wonder if that’s where some of this language is coming from.
My DS is currently undergoing assessment for possible AuDHD and one of the things he does is repeat words or phrases he finds amusing or gets a reaction from, so once he hears something it tends to stick.
We don’t allow unrestricted YouTube or gaming at home - it’s supervised and always in a shared family space, so it’s a little frustrating when he picks these things up at school or elsewhere.
I know children will inevitably hear things at school and I can’t shield him from everything, but they are only 7.
Part of me feels I should say something to the other mum, but because we’re friends I’m worried it will come across as a criticism of her parenting.
Equally, if this boy is repeating things he’s heard online, it’s likely other children will continue picking them up too.
Would you say anything? Or would you just keep addressing it with your own child and accept that this is part of school life nowadays?