10 percent of kids swear by age 10
10 percent of kids swear by age 10. Wait a minute – I had to read that twice, but here’s the story:
How Old Were You When First Started Swearing?
A new poll asked 14,000 people how old they were when they “first started swearing on a regular basis” . . . and 10% said they were dropping profanity by the age of 10. 4% claimed they were even “younger than 8.”
The most common answer was actually 19% of people saying they’ve NEVER fallen into the habit of “regularly” using bad words.
Among people who DO admit to using foul language, 18% say they started between the ages of 14 and 16 . . . 13% say they were in the 11 to 13 range . . . and another 13% say it was the 17 to 19 range.
Also, 48% of people claim they were NOT mimicking their parents . . . because their guardians “rarely” or “never” used profanity in front of them.
The Substitute Word Syndrome
Okay, so now we know 10 percent of kids swear by age 10. But I’ve got a question: Is it allowable for kids to use a substitute word for swearing? Heck they do it in movies all the time!
We had this discussion in our house for years with two boys. My wife wasn’t a fan of the “substitute swearing” – while I’ll admit I was cool with it (mainly because I did it all the time…eight years in the Navy and being raised by an Irish grandma, not my fault).
But what about your kids saying “freak” or “shoot” instead of the actual word? Is that okay? I’m trying to remember the first time we heard our kids use the sub words…probably when we told them to put down the gameboy and go to bed (that’s for my older son Ryan). But when I read that 10 percent of kids swear by age 10, that just sounds high doesn’t it?
10 percent of kids swear by age 10 – you cool with it?
I’m sure Ryan Logan will have plenty of thoughts about this (I seem to remember he’s okay with it at home) .
