December 9, 2007
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Nun Cursing
Sister Kathy Avery of St. Clare of Montefalco Catholic School instructed her students that she has a zero-tolerance policy on cursing.
She read a list of the curse words and phrases that were banned. Some of the parents were shocked she actually used the words she was telling them to avoid. Here is the link: Link
Do you think it is ok to use the curse words in telling kids which words they can’t say?
Comments (73)
NO
well, they gotta know what you’re talking about..unless there’s a poster of the list. poo!!
I agree, the poster would work… but if there is not a poster then yes, I would expect them to tell them, verbally, which words are not ok to be used.
no, cuz by speaking them herself, she defeats the purpose and fails in her endeavor to stop them from swearing… the sooner we give up trying to stop swearing, the sooner it wont matter anymore, and the sooner it will stop altogether…
Yes, and the lady wasn’t walking around saying them, she was telling the kids not to say them–they can’t know what not to say if she doesn’t tell them.
Kids learn by example….I think it would be best not to say them but I do not think it was wrong to do it that way.
yeah. list ‘em off. i know plenty of young kids that aren’t sure exactly what word they’re being yelled at for. and they “stop saying” some pretty funny things… but then think that SHIT is still okay. which it really is. i mean, who really gives a fuck anyway? they’re all just words. bahaha, you can’t slap your two year old for screaming “FUCK” at the top of his lungs when he sees a truck in the toy aisle at wal-mart, either. i tried that. picked up a child abuse charge.
Some words are good to be ban. But those simple word like Boring and stupid.. I think that’s bit far cuz they don’t always use those words in insulting way. They use those words in describing the feeling of something. I think this book is boring. That is how they feel about it. Nun is banning them using those words. geez. Somethings they got to lighten up.
Yes
I think people should stop focusing on language and more on real problems.
sure. saying, “don’t say the C word” to kids just won’t work because not all kids will know what the C word is. you gotta tell ‘em the words and if a few kids learn a few new cuss words, so be it. they’ll learn ‘em sooner or later anyway.
people need to unbraid their ass hairs.
well, I don’t personally have a problem with cursing. she can say whatever she wants.
however, there are ways to get across which words she didn’t want said without actually saying them. I’m pretty sure every 5 year old knows which word you’re tlaking about when tyou say “the F word.” however she may have to list off some of the more ambiguous words, that not every person considers cursing. Like if she didn’t want them saying “retarded” or “that’s gay.” I don’t see a problem here but if she didn’t want to offend anyone there aere other ways of making her point known.
Haha…I don’t think swearwords are much of an issue anyway.
good for her
I think she was fine to clearly spell out what wasn’t acceptable behaviour. Not setting appropriate limits early in life is what leads to real problems later………
It doesn’t matter
Yes… someone has to do it… they hear others use the words and think that its fine… So someone should come right out and say don’t say………….
I think it only MAKES SENSE that if you have a “zero tolerance” policy on something, the students should be completely aware of what they might be in trouble for.
Otherwise it’s just mean!
A poster would definately be better.
How else are you going to let them know what’s unacceptable?
It’s not like the words themselves are inherently bad in that that combination of vowels and consonants are somehow evil: the use is what makes them curses, so if you say a curse word with no intent it’s no longer a curse word.
Why would a poster be better, pinkrockstar14? Is writing a curse word somehow less evil than saying it?
Difficult subject for me to pick one on.
By reading such a list, she could be teaching them words they didn’t already know, and they could end up using them outside anyway.
She should have explained the no-tolerance policy, then just…I don’t know, done something when a kid actually used a word she disapproved of. Like..the first time a certain word is used, don’t be too hard, but the next time anyone uses that, then don’t.
I don’t know..
“people need to unbraid their ass hairs.”
Hahahahaha. ^^ I agree.
If the words are banned, doesn’t it seem a little backwards to then hang posters displaying the words all over school? And these are 5th to 8th graders. Not kindergardeners. I am pretty sure they have all heard these words before by now. I think she was right to say what words exactly weren’t allowed so there was no confusion later on.
Yep, that’s how I did it…and I’ve never had a problem of him using them after that.
HOW THE HELL ELSE ARE THEY GOING TO KNOW WHAT NOT TO SAY?!
To be serious, however: I think it’s a little inappropriate, yeah. I mean, I would hope the kids would know what is and what isn’t acceptable to say in public. It kind of comes with the territory of knowing what the words mean. Knowing the words themselves, but not their meanings, can lead to a few hilarious situations, of course… but those will be few and far between.
When I was in elementary school we knew what not to say around adults. Our judgment was fine.
Spelling such things out for kids is probably going to keep them from thinking for themselves, to some degree.
http://www.atomfilms.com/film/captain_capitalism.jsp?channelKeyword=channel_political_parodies
We should all follow the captin’s example!
depends on the age of the kids, whether they would have known them or not.
I think it is important to make sure what is included. When people say “fudge” instead of the other F word, you know they are actually thinking of saying the other F word… so does that make “fudge” OK?
Haha. It is pretty humorous. I would love to hear the nun at my school say “MOTHERF*CKING CHRIST”
hellyeah
They are only words. Now everyone is clear on the words you can’t use. I think it’s good.
I think she should’ve just said that they shouldn’t swear. When I was in 5th-8th grades, I didn’t know half the words that would’ve been on that list. And I would’ve liked to keep it that way… but alas…
No. That’s a very interesting story though.
I think it’s funny.
Well, you can’t rightly ban something if you don’t explain what you’re banning.
However, it’s really stupid to list a bunch of words and say “don’t say these”.
Solution? Don’t have a rule against profanity. Let people say whatever the fuck they want to say. Niggaz.
No. If she felt she had to do something, she could have sent a letter to the parents with the words, but that would have been pretty weird in its own right.
Meh, words express feelings. If people feel that it’s necessary to use curse words, then it’ll be perfectly acceptable. Sounds reasonable to me.
By instinct, if people stub their toe on a sofa, most wouldn’t say “oh man that hurts.” A curse word like fuck, shit, damnit would express your feelings more concisely and effectively rather than going through the whole round-about.
Besides, I have heard some people use some other imaginary word to substitute for curse words, and frankly that is just associating the negative meaning to the word. A curse word is only negative in meaning when applied. Other than that, it’s just a WORD.
Definately not. If the kids don’t know all the “bad words,” they will learn them in time; and will also learn that they are bad.
Why the FUCK is this news?!
Hell yeah.
Just kidding. Kind of depends on the age group of the kids. And I would think it would be sufficient to just tell them no cursing. They know what curse words are.
I do not understand the concept of a curse, let alone a word used as a curse.
If a person allows himself/herself to be offended by a word, that says something about his/her integrity.
I think it’s fine. Kids curse to be rebellious and do things that freak out adults, but if the adult themselves aren’t scared then it gives off a very different feel to the authority.
Cussing nuns….. that sounds like some sort of Montey Python sketch.
Well, how else are you supposed to tell them what not to say?
yes and no
if it’s zero tolerance, they should know exactly what it is they can’t say
I would have only been that much more inclined to use them.
I think it’s fine that she told them, verbally, what words. It’s not like she used them because she wanted to swear, and she didn’t use them in real sentences.
No, just makes ‘em wanna use ‘em more. Smack the butts when they say ‘em and tell ‘em why it’s wrong. Probably gave the nun a little goose to get to say ‘em herself.
ha ha… how will they know bad words unless someone tells them
seriously (telepathy? Osmosis?… lol)
Daniel (doubledb)
Yes.
Why not? Plus, it acts to remove some of the mystique behind some of the words. For a kid cussing has this aurora about it, at least when I was younger. It takes awhile to learn that the reason you shouldn’t cuss isn’t b/c “it’s a sin!” or it’s evil,” but merely it’s tacky in a lot of different situations and can be disrespectful of others.
for some reason i put aurora instead of aura. Why? I don’t know.
“Ok guys, there are 47 words that you are not allowed to say. They are curse words. If you say them, we will not tolerate it and you could be facing severe punishments from detention to expulsion.”
Somethings that need to be said: these kids are from ages 12-15; these kids are catholic; these kids have a problem with cursing (why else would a school have to develop a policy in the middle of the year?); the punishments listed are ones that i made up. That said, consider if only the beginning were presented and she walked away, leaving everyone wondering which curse words they are. how is a student to know if they are breaking the rules if they have no access to the regulations? Hell, if something like that were said i would have trouble thinking up 10 much less a large list of them. So what, she said some vulgar words to be clear and concise which words were off limits. At least she has the respect for kids to actually let them know what she expects of them and what she will and will not tolerate from them. I hate it when people dont set guides for children because it gives them free reign until it is convenient for an entity to slap them down and let them know that they are horrible.
She should be able to say it.
Jeez, when my boyfriend was a kid his parents told him not to say the “f” word and he thought that meant “Frank Zappa”
so, yeah tell the kids.
Its a different method than I would have chosen, but she seems to have gotten the point across, and, there’s no way that they can say that they didnt know a word wasnt acceptable…It’s not like she is using them on a regular basis and then telling them not to speak that way…
yes, I think if we are telilng someone what they cannot do…it helps to know exactly what it is. Good for her! Most parents don’t realize what their own kids do and how….uh….coloful? their speech is.
How else are they supposed to know?
Why not just address it when they say it rather than stirring up everything? It just takes once time and then the nun doesn’t have to worry about saying it or not. I think people forgot that we are talking about kids here, and not adults. I don’t think anyone, regardless of how they speak, would want their child running around town like a foul-mouthed sailor.
no, in fact I applaud her for getting to the point right away. kids are notorious about pushing an issue then pretending innocence that they ‘didn’t know’. and it’s not like they haven’t heard those words before either. Good for her.
Yes they have to know what she finds unacceptable. Writing the words down is a good idea, BUT you’ll always have those kids that say I didn’t see that on the list or I thought that was something else, so saying them out loud stops the confusion in my eyes!
She wasn’t using them. She was reading a list of words she expected the children not to use. If she told a child he was full of shit that would be different.
Now, I wonder what would happen if she told a child “Go to hell!”. Would that be some sort of semi-divine declaration of destiny?
Being a mother of a two year old, I know that children learn from example – and if we don’t explain to them which words we can and cannot use – how are they ever supposed to know? It’s like how are kids supposed to know that drugs and smoking are bad? They say that schools teach that stuff, but I am finishing up my high school and have yet to see an “anti drug” or “anti smoking” poster or anything of the sort. They used to have the DARE program when I grew up but they don’t have it here. You have to educate your kids in order for them to learn, can’t count on the schools for everything. It is inappropriate, but how else are you to go about it? If you don’t tell them, they will hear it from someone else. At least if you talk to your kids about it – they know they can count on you to teach them rather than learning things everywhere else. Mind you, don’t tell a young child like a two year old, what words not to use – unless they start saying them. My brother has a terrible cursing problem, and she copies him – so we have to explain to her that she cannot say those words. He says it pretty clear that we don’t have to repeat the word. Like on x-box he’ll scream “FUCK!!!!” and then she’ll copy him, and I’ll explain to her she cannot copy that word. But say a child doesn’t grow up with those curse words in their life, and hear them elsewhere – obviously you’re going to have to say them to explain them. But…sometimes the kids just say them themselves so that you can explain it without repeating it. Hopefully, that’s how it happens every time.
Sincerely,
T.
How else are they gonna know which words are or aren’t on the list?
I don’t believe in restrictions on free speech like this. If you read the article, you’ll note that she also banned the words “stupid” and “boring”.
I hope this crazy bitch gets hit by a bus.
How else will they know? Poster is good, but you can’t make someon read a poster. At least, this way, she knows they heard her.
What an oxymoron – with additional emphasis on the “moron”
Having a specific list opens it up to legalism.
Regardless, I’d give a dollar to hear a nun read a list of words you couldn’t repeat. I wonder if she’d get them all. If not, it’d be tempting to make use of some of the more obscure ones.
A friend of mine once observed how, for whatever reason, when curse words are written in their politically correct form, they lack vowels. Are vowels the evil culprits?
To the question above: Yes. Maybe no. It probably depends on how old the kids are. More context is needed for a thorough answer.
If it is for instruction only I dont see the harm, but to say them just to say them no
Lol
as a product of catholic school… i would be so mortified by hearing a nun curse.. that i would never use the words myself.
Why couldn’t she just spell the words to the kids??