Is it Possible to Stop the Evolution of Swearing?
In his essay, entitled “Maledictoratory”, Alan Ehrenhalt discusses how swearing has become more common throughout the decades and how some words that used to be forbidden and avoided are now being used as a common part of our every-day lives.
Although I agree with the author on the sense that swearing has too common and that it is something to be concerned about, the only thing that bothered me about the essay is the fact that Ehrenhalt believes that there is no solution for the problem, and also that he doesn’t know who to blame, he just says that it happens, without giving good reasons for it.
In my opinion, a great share of the blame for the common use of such words is the media. How are people supposed to realize that swearing is bad and that some words should not be said in a formal conversation if they see examples of people doing it on TV, magazines and other forms of media everyday?
I believe that there is a solution for the problem, and that solution resides on the education given to children by their parents. I can’t say if that would work or not, but in my opinion, parents should give an example to their kids by not swearing next to them and by telling them that swearing is wrong, and also by regulating what kinds of TV shows they’ve been watching.
As I already said, I don’t know if these solutions would work, but it is better to try than to give up and only wonder what the future will be like for our children, as Ehrenhalt wonders in the end of his article.
Do you think that there is a way to end this problem or is this a fight which we already lost?
5 comments:
I also believe the media is partly to blame. Parents can really teach their children that they should not swear but will they because many parents swear themselves.
I can understand where you are coming from when you are taking about parents swearing in front of their children and then the children picking that bad language up, but what if the parents have never said a cuss word in front of their child before and then all of a sudden that child is saying them? I really think that the media has a big role to play in what children learn. Like for example, the show "South Park", I have actually sat through an episode and they actually had a little meter on the side of the screen that counted how many cuss words were being said. Now, how can one put all of the blame on the parents (granted the parents should control what their children watch...)?
I agree with you Ana, it seems to be hard to avoid foul language when everywhere you look people are expressing themselve using that language. I know some people who feel that if they don't use a certain language then they are not cool, but I feel that anyone who uses that language is not cool.
The media is blamed for so many things, but we don't take the time to realize that these shows have to make their money just like we do. They promote it, we watch it. they make the money, they keep promoting......pattern maybe? As far as the "children" being influenced to use curse words,it is up to us to teach our children what should and should not be said, but we are so busy pointing fingers until we lose sight of our responsibilities
I think it is alreay a war that we have lost. If we make changes now we might be able to stop swearing. But thaat will not happen any time soon because not only are people swearing more there is also swearing being allowed on t.v. now so more and more people are being exposed to swearing.
Post a Comment