Who's fault is it when children curse?

I would say that it is usually the parents fault or sometime a caregiver. I am guilty of using foul language in front of my son sometimes. I don't get mad at him for it because I know where he heard it. I do explain to him that he should not say them. He rarely does it. He even sometimes tells me that I should not say those words when I say them.

First of all, I wish elders would stop blaming kids for having certain shortcomings. I don't have kids but I have observed them a little. Like all human being, they imitate and take examples. Kids imitate more because they are in the learning stage. They could hear profane words anywhere, even in movies and television. Naturally, they will want to know why Uncle B, or Daddy, or the neighbour or the actor can say it and why he/she can't, which is a very good question! But then we teach them not to back answer us, to "respect" us. What rubbish! Simply set a good example to the kid, don't teach it anything. Kids naturally learn through imitation and by example. So if the parent sees something in the kid he/she doesn't like, I am sure the parent will find it in himself or herself. Cheers and thanks for the discussion.

i think we can't blame anybody... if we have to blame somebody, the person will be the parents as children usually spend most of the times with the parents... otherwise, the person will be the friends or the environment where the children grow up... that's why the parents should be a good role model at home and the teachers should be a good role model at school so that children can learn good things from these people...

well when kids swear we are to blame and yes i do correct my kids

I get after my children when they curse and yes i tell them why not to.

i think its the childrens fault

LOL when my kids were younger they were told not to use language like that and yes I explained to them why...now that they are older they are allowed to swear (certain words are NOT allowed)...Who's "fault" is it...Well I personally dont see fault coming into the equation at all really...

I always explain to my kids the reasons why we shopuldn't use them exspecially when you are upset because it tends to flair up the other person. I take full responsibility if my child swears around me which is not very often and he is almost 16 but they are going to do it with there friends regardless. I think that teaching them when not to use it and when to respect others is a bigger issue. Kids will he kids and they will learn things in and out of the home but as long as they have morals and respect i think they will tend to use the words less.

I certainly do not laugh it off. we all need to be careful with our speech. We are all responsible for what comes out of our mouths. I do think parents need to be vigilant in teaching the children proper speak - yes, of course if the parents are casual about vulgar language the children will pick up on it - as they will when their peers also use it, or the average person on the street uses it, or the television or the movies they view. It is going to be heard by the child wherever they go (except maybe church, heh) so the child needs to learn to not incorporate the usage into their own vocabulary. I think this could be a difficult task. I hesitate to say it is the parents fault as we are all responsible for our own actions.

Fortunately, I don't resort to cussing as often as I used to. I guess I'm growing up. Also, my daughter's presences pings off my mental radar and constantly reminds me to watch my tongue. Together this helps. However, my daughter does pick up on lyrics to songs that I play on the radio sometimes. Occasionally, they have a reference to G-d-dm or A$$. When she repeats them, I try to substitute other words she can sing in their place. Sometimes that even works.

I admit that when something happens I will be the first to s**t. But the one who cusses all the time is my husband. And my two year old uses every word. I try to tell him its a bad word, but its hard when he hears all the time. I can't seem to do anything about it either, i'm constantly telling my husband to watch his mouth. But.... Sometimes I will laugh cause the way he says it is so cute. But I know its wrong, and catch myself.

Um, I think it's both parents, or at least the one doing the cursing. If one curses and the other does nothing about it, the blame belongs to both. If they both curse, the blame still belongs to both. I'm guilty of it (like with the parking space), but I correct myself and use the moment to teach him that those words are unacceptable. A funny/omg moment: My husband and I got into a screaming match b/c I hadn't done HIS dishes or HIS laundry for a week (I was trying to teach him a lesson, but it backfired, oops). He screamed at me, "So you're saying that I get to go to work all day and come home and still have to do the dishes and laundry?! All this while you sit around here and watch TV all day and don't do a f*cking thing?!" Before I could answer him, my beautiful little boy defended me, piping up, "Yes she does too do a f*cking thing around here!" It was very hard not to laugh. He's so smart, he turned that sentence back around on his daddy, but he didn't know not to use the bad word! Funny, but at the same time heartbreaking. I gently explained that Mommy was proud of him for defending me, and for being able to change the sentence like that, but Mommy doesn't use those words, and neither should he. It shut my husband up.

My kid sometime hear me curse and so was her father. My husband would scold her but i told him not to because she will outgrow it. She knows that we are cursing not because we are angry but we witnessed something peculiar. She knows it when I curse when I am angry so she just keeps quiet. Sometimes, its better if we ignore them instead of acknowledging their actions because they might find it nice to curse and would keep on cursing to get our attention. They could have heard it from us or from other people but it is how we condition their minds that makes cursing their own habit.

in my own experience, its the parents fault because they don't know the right way to discipline their children

I try to take the time to explain to them that those words are nasty and I was wrong to use them. You can't really punish them if they are toddlers if you are saying it yourself. If they are older, then some other action might be used.