Why Mind Blown Sometimes Has “Bad” Words
Our policy for not-never profanity (but very rarely!)
Why?
It’s hard to explain.
So I’ll let someone else do it.
Curtesy of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, one of the most recommended books about writing (and life). She tells of her son, Sam, who,
…at three and a half, had these keys to a set of plastic handcuffs, and one morning he intentionally locked himself out of the house. I was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper when I heard him stick his plastic keys in the doorknob and try to open the door. The I heard him say, “Oh, shit.”
My whole face widened, like the guy in Edvard Munch’s Scream. After a moment I got up and opened the front door.
“Honey,” I said, “what’d you just say?”
“I said, ‘Oh, shit,’” he said.
“But, honey, that’s a naughty word. Both of us have absolutely got to stop using it. Okay?”
He hung his head for a moment, nodded, and said, “Okay, Mom.”
Then he leaned forward and said confidently, “But I’ll tell you why I said ‘shit.’… Because of the fucking keys!”
I think that says it all. A responsible parent and a confident child who knows how to express himself.
I read this story to my own three and a half year old. She didn’t start cursing uncontrollably. She gets it. Kids do.
“The idea that no gentleman ever swears is all wrong. He can swear and still be a gentleman if he does it in a nice and benevolent and affectionate way.”
- Mark Twain, Private and Public Morals speech, 1906
Don’t get us wrong. Mind Blown maintains the highest level of content curation we have always had. It is rigorous and uncompromising.
Here at Mind Blown, we do everything to make sure the content we publish is safe and appropriate for kids ages 10+.
One of the most important thing for us is to select from only the highest quality resources, and to vet every piece of content that we approve.
Sometimes, though very rarely, we approve a video clip that includes an occasional “shit”.
We believe that if it is in good taste, not offensive, and doesn’t detract from the quality of the clip (clips need to be extra awesome to fit this criteria for us), we can allow it.
I’m not against profanity. It’s an important part of the language when used properly. — Robert Klein
Bad words are not always bad, and we like to think that we can tell the difference.
Kids shouldn’t ALWAYS be shielded, and sometimes (rarely, but sometimes), these words can be expressive in a way other words cannot.
In fact, it’s fascinating to know more about these words, and who does fascinating better than vsauce?
