by Alicia Slansky

Created on: January 18, 2009

Profanity is used every day by all sorts of people. Our children are going to be exposed to it sooner or later. As parents, we should be teaching our children how vulgar foul language is. To keep them from using it, there are several things we can do.

* Avoid using it yourself

* Ignore it when very young children parrot words back

* Instruct older children about the inappropriateness of profanity

* Set clear family morals regarding language

* Use consequences when family rules are blatantly disobeyed

* Demonstrate your disappointment in foul language, from anyone's mouth

- Avoid foul language:

The best form of prevention is to watch your own mouth. Some of us cuss more than others. If you have children, you should be very careful of the words that come out of your mouth. If you use profanity at home, your children will think it is acceptable for them to use as well, regardless of what you tell them about it.

- Babies and Toddlers:

At a very young age, kids will parrot back everything they hear. At this stage, they are not going to know what those words mean or even that they are bad words. They will, however, continue to say words that gain attention. If they say a bad word and we react, positively or negatively, they will say it again.

The best way to avoid the child repeating the potty words at a young age is to let the words slip by unnoticed. If an adult around uses a bad word and you acknowledge it, the child will pick up on that. The word will be locked into his memory. If the word then comes out of their own mouth and you are shocked, the child will remember even more clearly that this word gets you to engage differently than other words.

I would not punish a child under 3 for repeating words that they have been exposed to. They are still building their social skills and have very little true knowledge of the fact that they are saying unacceptable words. If others use profanity around them, with as little flair as possible, simply remind them that there are little ears present. Most people will apologize and move on. If they don't, you can removes yourself and your child from the situation and limit their exposure to the language. The more you react to each word that is profane, the more interest your child will have in the language being use d and the person who is using it.

- Elementary school children:

As they grow into elementary aged children, they will have a better knowledge of which words are not appropriate. They will have heard the words, maybe used a

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