I'd love to know what has happened with how things (vague for the moment, I'll elaborate in a few moments) used to be.
Claire comes home from school today and says "Mommy, Chanelle called me two bad words during recess. She has been really acting rude lately, but today she crossed the line with me. I'm done with her." Okay so from here, I'll go back to when I was a kid. We used to say in defense "I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks on you." But, we would say it when we were called, buttheads, dumbies, stupid, lame, you get the idea. Well, nope, this girl did not call her any of those names, aside from stupid (which may I just say is mild in comparison, and definitely hurts a childs' ego. Chanelle has been trouble since last year for Claire, but not until late in the year. I asked Claire to tell me what it was she was called. She looked at me and said "Are you SURE?" I said "No, not the entire word, but what letter it starts with, so that I can then guess what they were." She said the one starts with an F and she then followed it with the word that begins with a B.
What in God's green earth are these children, in fourth grade, talking like this for? I can't even imagine the capability to speak like that when I was in Elementary school, or even Middle school for that matter. Even in High school, I kept my mouth cleaner than those words. This isn't something I couldn't even get away with saying in my Father's house when I was 19 and on my own. Perhaps it was something that I never tested, due to respect, but then again, to never test it, makes me believe that I was raised in such a way to show respect to elders, and other students feelings.
Kids are becoming so grown in the tone of adult words, but are so immature because they can't even divide yet, however feel using those words validate them to be mature. I can't get over how far this language has gone in children. When I was in school, it was something bad enough to call another person names, but when it was found that the names were curse words, not only was the child in trouble, but a parent/teacher conference was to take place. But, now the words are said, the child who's being called these things is known as a tattle tail, and the teacher "speaks with the student" but doesn't have their parents intervene.
Is this what our world has become? Bleeping out only the f word on the radio, allowing popular songs which kids take a liking to and learning them. Somehow, I can't exactly blame songs, but I feel that it's safe to say, children need their family more without the added troubles, stress, and unhappiness that we deal with everyday. I worry though, if this is happening in the 4th grade, how will I be in "control" of what Claire's mouth will say as she enters Middle school? And how badly will it become in High school?
I worry that those, once simple (yet hurtful) words which we were called as pre-teens will become as the years go on. It scares me, to be honest. Thinking about how every child wants to grow up, and be a part of the "real" world. But, looking at us as her parents, it is troublesome to know how rapidly children are growing with society, not against.
*sigh* Here's hoping that things in our household stay curse word free for Claire.
