Should Swear Words Be Sight Words?
This is an interesting topic that is bound to ruffle some feathers.
I think the best way to talk about this topic should be to first talk about the power of language and the power of words. This is something I have particular interest in as someone living with a disability, (I wrote an article on the power of language you can find here.) I think some words carry much more weight than others for different reasons.
But the power we assign these words has been drilled into us from the moment we were able to use words ourselves. How many times in your childhood did mom tell you not to say something because it was a bad word? What, then, defines a good word? Are good words, words of positivity and praise, and bad words reflect negativity and self doubt? Personally, I think so. And if you are looking for an article that lays out the basis of good and bad words, check out this article, the inspiration for this article.
I don’t want to say that we should allow our four year old children to run around dropping F-bombs on the playground, but as mentioned in the beginning of this post, I believe that different words carry different weight. So, for example, “shit” would be a level 2 offense, while an F-bomb is a full level 5 offense. I also believe that having swear words be sight words and thus reconizable is different than having a child actually use the word.
I think as parents and a society moving forward, we need to be mindful of making sure that our children understand the power of words and how to use them. But we, as the educators to those children, also need to be mindful of the power we assign the words that we teach them.
I would also like to add, as mentioned by the Fatherly Forum article, the importance of expression. I personally feel that as we loose art classes in schools, the ability for kids to learn to express themselves is rapidly disappearing, in an education system where being unforimed and conforming to standardized test scores means far more than producing a child who has a strong hunger to learn and a genuine interest in any subject, or anything.
Language is the one tool we can control and teach our chilren to be able to express themselves in a meaningful way. I don’t believe that having swear words be sight words would be particularly harmful to our children as they grow; early exposure to these words could be a good thing, thus removing the power that “bad” words have. Of course, if our children are going to be swearing, we need to teach them that there is a time and a place for such langauge.
A bad words list should consist of: anything that would harm another person or situation, negativity.
A good words list should consist of: any word of praise towards a situation or person, positivity.
Remember that sight words are meant to teach our children to read and that these words are the building blocks and solid foundation to vocabulary for the rest of their lives. They are going to learn these words sooner or later, don’t you think it’s better they learn from you?
Do you teach sight words in your classroom? Check out www.getSights.com.
