Swearing in Kindergarten

Yes it does happen.  But usually it is not “really” swearing.  When one of my kiddos tell me that someone swore or said a bad word it is usually one of these situations.

  1.  It is not a true swear word but a “not nice word”.  These are your stupids, shut ups, hate etc.. So we talk about how they are not “bad” words just unkind words and we do not use them at school.
  2. Potty words.  These are your poop and pee and butt and booty words.  So we talk about how we do not use “potty” words at school AND we are much too old to use those words.
  3. Crap- If this word comes out I usually get a debate between kids about whether or not it is a swear word as some families allow it and some don’t.  So we talk about how some words may be ok at home but not at school.
  4.  They thought they heard a swear word but when I ask them what letter it starts with there is a problem.   They might tell you they don’t know or give you a letter name.  If it is “s” it is almost 100% not the “sh” swear word.  It is probably shut up, stupid or suck.  Sometimes I have no clue as once I was told it started with a “Y”.  Now I cannot even think of any words that are swear words OR that fit the criteria of the words above that starts with Y. I even thought of words that start with “W” as a common error made when learning letter sounds is to think the “y” says /w/ but no luck.  So we just talk about how swear words, unkind words and potty words are not welcome in our classroom.
  5. However sometimes the real thing comes out and when it does you are usually sure because one or two students shout out “so-and-so said “F***!” and they usually repeat it several times to make sure that I hear it! And of course to make sure all the kids in the class got a chance to hear it!

This year I had a boy who would say “What the f***!” but he would say it when he was surprised and not in a mean way.  We still had to talk about how that was not appropriate and there were lots of other phrases we can say when we are surprised!  He also tried to be sneaky and started to swear in Spanish while waiting for his bus.  Poor kiddo didn’t realize that we have many other students who speak Spanish, therefore his Spanish swearing was shut down as well.

Never a dull moment in Kindergarten..

And BTW if anyone knows what swear word starts with Y I would love to know!!  Been working on that one for a year! (hahaha)

 

6 thoughts on “Swearing in Kindergarten

  1. Hahahaha this post had me laughing, imagining all the situations! I could picture it so clearly. The only Y word/phrase I can think of is “your mom” or “yuck.” Doesn’t seem like it’d be it.

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