David Campbell has always loved to swear and now he’s decided to let his seven-year-old son, Leo, swear too.
Writing for Stellar on the weekend, Campbell admitted he’s a swearer, he likes the emotional release and the naughtiness of swearing.
He made the decision to let his oldest son swear, after Leo busted him dropping the s-bomb on stage.
“So when I swore onstage at a function for a friend’s birthday, in context, in front of my seven-year-old, I had been exposed,” he wrote.
“Busted. I mean, it was just the “S” word. Nothing serious. None of the truly offensive ones. Could I have said poo? Sure.”
After briefly trying to bribe Leo with Macca’s, the 47-year-old decided to have an honest conversation with his son about swearing.
“I told him I am fine with him swearing with his mates,” he wrote. “I mean, he is going to experiment with swear words anyway, right? We all did. We never told our parents, but we so did.”
While chatting to Leo, the dad-of-three laid down some very clever ground rules around swearing.
Leo’s allowed to swear with his friends. In fact, Campbell insists that he tries it – it’s fun and he should be able to get it out of his system.
Leo can never swear at anyone in a cruel way.
Leo is not allowed to swear at or around anyone who’s younger than him.
And most importantly, if Leo gets caught swearing by his teachers, he’s on his own (Campbell did note that he’s not entirely serious about this point).
Campbell said that he wanted to show Leo that he trusted him by giving him the power to decide when and where he uses swear words.
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Since implementing his new swearing rule, Campbell is happy to report that he hasn’t had any phone calls from the school, or from other parents.
And interestingly, by letting Leo drop a few swear words, swearing kind of lost its appeal, and the “danger and excitement” around swearing disappeared.
What do you think of David’s swearing tips? Would you try them yourself?
Top Comments
I didn't want my kids swearing at such a young age, so I've told them that they can start saying 'shit' in front of me at 12 and f*ck at 15. I told them that that I don't really have a problem with swearing but a lot of people do, particularly from young kids.
They seem to have happily accepted that it's a future right for them and still tell me off when I swear in their presence.
i dont see a problem with school aged kids swearing as long as its not the c word and its in the right context .. which is where parents educate the kid on where, when, how, etc ...