This post will deal with the ever increasing problem of foul language use by preschoolers. I have heard from many a preschooler teacher that they have been called things in recent years by preschoolers that they had to Google because they had never heard that word. The use of foul language by preschoolers can be caused by many factors. We are going to look at most of these factors.
The Innocent Use of Bad Language
Before we delve into the myriad of reasons preschool children pick up bad language in our culture, I want to talk about innocent use of bad language. This happens, and sometimes because other children can cuss a blue streak we overreact to a child that simply said a word incorrectly. I actually have a perfect example for this. When my oldest was in kindergarten, she had a hard time differentiating between "d," "b," and "p." At that time I taught piano lessons as well as homeschooled my children. I had one particular student that often had to stay after her lesson for quite a while before her mother could pick her up. Often, I would let her help me with my oldest daughter's lessons. On this particular day we were doing her reading lesson and the word was "ditch." She mixed the "d" with a "b," and I thought my piano student's eyes were going to jump out of her head. I, however, did not even react. I just told her to look at the word again, and she corrected herself. I knew my daughter had no idea what that word even meant even though my piano student sure did. That is how that situation should have been handled - no reaction. However, I have seen adults go off on a child because they accidentally said something like this. Adults, you can tell the difference between an accident and when a child says something on purpose. If something must be said, just tell the child that is not a nice word, and we should not use it.
Number One Culprit - Parents
Now we come to the many, many reasons preschool children pick up the use of bad language. I hate to say this but the number one culprit is parents. Many young adults and young parents use cuss words every other breath these days. If you have ever stood behind them in line at the store, you will more than likely hear 20 to 30 cuss words in a period of about 5 minutes. Crude language is the norm for this age group, and they very often do not even think about how their habits affect the people around them. You can always tell when parents are to blame because it comes out in the child's dramatic play. The child will be pretending to be on the phone cussing a blue streak. In this case, the child is simply modeling what they hear at home. This is another situation where you should not overreact. This type of language is normal to this child, which is awful but the truth. You will have to be proactive in teaching children which words should not be used at childcare. However, unless all of your parents cuss consistently, you will have to deal with it on a case by case basis, or you will inadvertently end up teaching some children bad words they did not already know.
Second Biggest Culprit - TV and Radio
Even when the parents do not use crude language on a consistent basis, a child has a thousand other places in this culture to pick up crude language. The second biggest culprit is television and radio. Some of the pop songs these days are horrible. The language in them would have been considered X-rated when I was growing up. Some television programs are just as bad. Again, the television and radio programming geared for young adults contains a great deal of crude language. Many parents watch and listen to this programming without even thinking about how it will affect their children. This type of bad language use will also come out in a child's play. They will say a phrase from a song or television program during play that is completely inappropriate. Again, do not overreact. This is a teachable moment not a time for a spasm. You need to just simply explain that we do not say those things or sing those type of things at childcare.
Next Culprit - Peers
In today's culture unless you homeschool and greatly screen your child's playmates, it is nearly impossible to keep your child from being exposed to crude language. They will hear it at preschool despite their teacher's best efforts. When they hear it, they will experiment with it just like they experiment with other vocabulary. The key is to teach the children about inappropriate language. Maybe, just maybe, when this next generation grows up they will learn to be a little more civil than the generation ahead of them.
When They Cross the Line
Most of the time, a low-key reaction should be used when children use inappropriate language. However, there is one situation that is very different. By the time some children are four years old, they have learned that bad language can be used as an emotional weapon. This is where it crosses the line from being an innocent slip-up to a deliberate act of aggression. When a child uses foul language to berate an adult or another child, that child has crossed the line. That situation should be handled the same as any other act of aggression. Bullying starts in preschool these days, and many times the victims are the teachers. Do not let a child learn to use foul language as a weapon. We have far too much of that. Let that child know that when he/she chooses to use foul language in that manner, the consequences are never going to be in his/her favor. The ugly truth that no one wants to really talk about these days is that this is probably one of the largest reasons children are removed from preschools. I personally will not let a child cuss me out without giving that parent a stern warning that if it happens again, I will remove their child from my childcare. No teachers, preschool through high school, should have to stand there and allow a child to berate and cuss them. We do not get paid enough for that.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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