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Jill Patir: Hug Your Loved Ones a Little Tighter
No Cussing Club Goes for a Curse-Free Week
Filed under: In The News
McKay Hatch is one ambitious 15-year-old. Back when he was still in junior high in Pasadena, CA, he started up a No Cussing Club. "A lot of kids at my school...would cuss and use dirty language all the time," says Hatch. "It bothered me so much that one day I challenged them to stop!" Today the club has over 20,000 members.
But that's not enough for young Hatch. His campaign was approved by the city council into an official "No Cussing Week," in effect until Friday, and then each first week of March hereafter. Those who use profanity or make rude gestures could find themselves shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glances of South Pasedena residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.
"It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse," says Mayor Michael Cacciotti.
"It's not about forcing anyone to stop, just to bring awareness," says Hatch. "If you can do a week without cussing, maybe you can do two weeks. And then maybe a month."
Though Hatch has trouble with his swearing classmates -- some have been known to open the door on No Cussing Club meetings and let loose a string of expletives -- the ones who will have the hardest time complying with Hatch's ban might just be the grown-ups.
No one swears worse than my husband, particularly when he's watching a bad basketball game. "The children, they have ears," I'll remind him.
"Did I swear? I didn't swear, did I?"
Swearing, for a lot of parents, is second nature. And it's hard to turn off once the kids are born. "Where do they hear this stuff?" we ask innocently. Like the time my husband reprimanded our then two-year-old, and once he turned his back, she retorted under her breath, "Bastard." Or the short-lived period where our three-year-old started every sentence with "Oh. My. God." She said it so many times in front of our parochial preschool teacher; I thought we were going to have to change schools.
In our house, if our kids swear, I know that it's mostly because -- despite our best efforts -- they heard it from us. If Hatch's No Cussing Week sweeps the nation, we'd be the ones filling up the Swear Jar with quarters.
If you're looking for some how-to advice on stopping swearing, check out this oddly helpful post by Bangalore's Soham Pablo. He's certainly right about one thing: "Conversation is not a swearing contest. You owe it to yourself to find the vast array of other wonderful words your language provides to fill up your conversations."
But that's not enough for young Hatch. His campaign was approved by the city council into an official "No Cussing Week," in effect until Friday, and then each first week of March hereafter. Those who use profanity or make rude gestures could find themselves shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glances of South Pasedena residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.
"It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse," says Mayor Michael Cacciotti.
"It's not about forcing anyone to stop, just to bring awareness," says Hatch. "If you can do a week without cussing, maybe you can do two weeks. And then maybe a month."
Though Hatch has trouble with his swearing classmates -- some have been known to open the door on No Cussing Club meetings and let loose a string of expletives -- the ones who will have the hardest time complying with Hatch's ban might just be the grown-ups.
No one swears worse than my husband, particularly when he's watching a bad basketball game. "The children, they have ears," I'll remind him.
"Did I swear? I didn't swear, did I?"
Swearing, for a lot of parents, is second nature. And it's hard to turn off once the kids are born. "Where do they hear this stuff?" we ask innocently. Like the time my husband reprimanded our then two-year-old, and once he turned his back, she retorted under her breath, "Bastard." Or the short-lived period where our three-year-old started every sentence with "Oh. My. God." She said it so many times in front of our parochial preschool teacher; I thought we were going to have to change schools.
In our house, if our kids swear, I know that it's mostly because -- despite our best efforts -- they heard it from us. If Hatch's No Cussing Week sweeps the nation, we'd be the ones filling up the Swear Jar with quarters.
If you're looking for some how-to advice on stopping swearing, check out this oddly helpful post by Bangalore's Soham Pablo. He's certainly right about one thing: "Conversation is not a swearing contest. You owe it to yourself to find the vast array of other wonderful words your language provides to fill up your conversations."
| Never, but I never swore much to begin with. | |
|---|---|
| Yes, and who cares? It's just vocabulary. | |
| I use swear word stand-ins, like "shoot" and "fudgesicle." | |
| Only when the situation calls for it. Like when I drop my cell phone in the toilet. | |
| I'll tell you in comments. |
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