Roughly Speaking—Students & Abusive Language

Dealing with Words That Hurt

Are you tired of hearing students use abusive language—swearing, name calling, or threatening? How do you deal with the onslaught of hateful, hurtful words?

As educators we must help students understand what we expect of them and how we want to be treated—verbally and otherwise. In some cases, we may be the only person "teaching" them what is a respectful way to talk to another person.

Two ways we can help students learn to use appropriate language are giving them feedback on how they are communicating and being good role models by speaking to them with respect.

In this Web area, you'll find interviews with four educators about the abusive language they hear on the job. Find out what they are hearing and what they are doing about it. Read—

• Abusive Language: Is Anybody Listening?—from a science teacher in working in a suburban Maryland high school
  
  
• A Substitute Talks About Abusive Language—from a K-12 substitute teacher working full-time in an urban school district in California
  
  
• Custodian Sees More Polite Kids, Less Abusive Language—from a custodian working in a rural Illinois elementary school
  
  
• Driver Doesn't Tolerate Abusive Language —from a bus driver working with elementary and middle school students in suburban Pennsylvania  

And read three articles on the anti-swearing campaign a Washington high school teacher launched with her students.

• Students Pledge Not to Swear—Teacher & students launch Dare Not To Swear.
  
  
• Anti-Swearing Campaign Takes Off—Students talk about swearing at their school—before the campaign and now.
  
  
• Keeping the Anti-Swearing Campaign Alive—School activities keep students on track. 
   

And, finally, a couple of quotations on the topic:

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
             —Xenocrates (396-314 BC)

By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach. 
            —Winston Churchill

Related Content

No Swearing  - Students sometimes forget the difference between street and school language. What is your school policy on swearing? What do you do about profanity use in your classroom? How do you keep school language clean? (discussion board, January 2008)

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