Have you taught your children not to blaspheme?

[Revised]

I've tried. I'm not particularly religious or offended by "taking the Lord's name in vain" myself but I know that people who do believe are, so I've tried to teach my children it's not acceptable and that we don't say OMG/FGS etc out of respect for others.

I'm fighting a losing battle though because it seems these are perfectly acceptable things for teachers and TV presenters to say.

[alemci]

great post Lougle

[Buttercup27]

bertiebotts oh my penguins really made me smile ! I'll have to remember that one!

[OddBoots]

I have but we are Christian.

For those who aren't and who don't feel it's a problem, would you support a teacher in telling children off for saying 'oh my god' in an an exclamation of annoyance in school?

[CMOTDibbler]

I'm a humanist, dh is agnostic. Neither of us use (if ds is around) or allow ds to use OMG, JC, go to hell. We don't allow the use of stupid, bloody, or other common swear words either.

I don't like swearing in general - yes of course I do swear in times of great stress, but no one else needs to hear it

[scottishmummy]

Jesus christ. No

[hedgetrimmer]

I have not told my children not to say it,i say it,and it doesnt bother me if they say it,and it wouldnt bother me if someone religious heard them and was offended by it,because,to be quite blunt,i am offended by anyone religious.

[hedgetrimmer]

I cant remember where, but i once read that swearing is a luxury only for the very poor and the very rich.I think that is kind of true,all the "posh" people i have known (have known a few,used to be a live in nanny in some very posh places) have sworn like troopers.

As usual,it only seems to be those in the middle that worry about these things.

[deepbluetr]

I don't mind my children's teachers saying "oh my god" - and the teachers do, I have heard them.

[Methe]

No, I don't. I fairly lax on swearing too. It's just words and I love a good swear and think it's fantastic expressive vocabulary which should be embraced.

[SheherazadeSchadenfreude]

Mine say "Holy crap." (American school.)

[Deverethemuzzler]

I used to be a Christian but I don't think that is the reason why I don't like it much.
I am not really sure why.

I tell the kids not to say it, they can say Oh my Gosh instead.
Perhaps its because it sounds too adult, like any curse/expletive?

However if someone pulled me or the DCs up for saying it with 'don't take our Lords name in vain!'

I would be less than impressed.

[BertieBotts]

Odd I would expect my child(ren) to follow the rules of the classroom even if I myself think those rules are pointless.

[Hakluyt]

I do. I don't like children to swear at all. And I think if you are going to say something that might offend someone,you need to make a conscious, informed decision to do it.

And I am an atheist.

[SheherazadeSchadenfreude]

My Gran and great aunt used to say "Golly Moses!" Is that better?

[FartyMcGhee]

I am far more worried about my son saying 'fuck Bollox and arseholes' than 'Jesus Christ' or 'Christ on a bike'.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Taught not to here (DCs 8 and 10). They virtually never do it (not in my hearing anyway). I try not to do it too, but the odd one slips out.

My parents don't like it, I was brought up not to (it didn't stop me when they were out of earshot so I'm assuming the same goes for my two), we just regard it as not very polite, the same sort of level as crap and shit.

[edamsavestheday]

I don't like to hear small children swearing. ds is nearly 11 and knows most swear words by now. I explain that they are considered offensive and must never be used at school or anywhere except in private at home. It's all about context - and I've warned him religious people may object to Oh My God etc.

He did ask me 'Mummy, can I swear?' the other night. I was intrigued so said yes... he wanted to say bloody about something that had gone wrong at school. I said fair enough, saying it to me in private.

Blimey and bloody are religious swear words btw. By God's Blood and God Blind Me IIRC.

[Luggagecarousel]

It is offensive.

it isn't a decision what language you find offensive or not.

Vocabulary language is stored in the vocabulary area of your brain.

What your brain perceives as swearing or blasphemy is stored in the primitive part of the brain associated with aggression, as are threatening gestures, and responses that initiate violence.

If you use language which is stored in the primitive area of the LISTENERS brain, they will perceive it as an act of aggression as much as waving a fist at them.

It doesn't matter where that word is stored in YOUR brain.

There are words commonly stored in the primitive brain areas of the population as a whole, words we class as swear words or blasphemy.

It is intelligent and civilised not to use them gratuitously, and to teach children not to.

(It is of course perfectly valid to use them deliberately to express aggression, that is what they are for!)

[OddBoots]

BertieBotts, fair enough.

I don't find any words for body parts or functions offensive in themselves* but I know others do so I've taught my children not to swear in order not to offend others.

*name calling is a different matter but that applies even without words regarded as swearing.

[Methe]

Luggage did you just make that up?

[ppplease]

Yes.
DH swears a bit, cant stop him. But the children do not. Never had done. We did have some interesting conversations along the way about which were and which were not swear words.
Some words seem now to be swear words, and some no longer are.

[Luggagecarousel]

No Methe, it's true. The two areas of the brain are so far apart that in a stroke or head injury it is actually possible to lose one vocabulary and not the other. I have cared for patients who have lost ALL their language EXCEPT swearing and blaspheming.

[BertieBotts]

I can definitely see that they might be stored differently, because for me I don't naturally swear in front of my mum, work mates, students (I teach adults), other people's children or new people who I haven't heard swear yet. In fact I find it really hard and uncomfortable to do so.

But, I easily swear around friends I know well, workmates if I've established that it's a "swearing" workplace (not my current one!) and people who I hear swear a lot themselves. And DH and DS :( I don't know why DS didn't make the cut, because I've always tried not to swear around him but somehow it's not natural to me that he's in the category of "avoid".

But blasphemy for me is not in the category of swearing, I guess because my parents never blinked if I said it. I can't program that out!

Interesting that most people say they teach their children not to but I don't think anyone has said they are offended by it.

[Luggagecarousel]

As a Christian I don't like it, it is like hearing someone slag off your mum. Not offended exactly, but uncomfortable and sad.

[alemci]

I think it is unpleasant and unnecessary.