Comments

• Jennifer Liu 08/27/10

  http://www.radicalparenting.com/2009/10/22/cursing-kids-6-ways-to-stop-teens-and-cussing-children/
  
  Sorry, that was the article I meant! I just linked back to your own, haha.

• Jennifer Liu 08/27/10

  I agree wholeheartedly with parents taking the same steps as their kids to try and curb bad habits like swearing. As a teenager myself I know full well no one wants to adhere to rules their parents set that they can't even follow themselves. It inevitably leads to a circle of "But you do it too!" Even if parents and adults are given liberties that teen shouldn't be, within the household and especially with bad habits you're trying to help your teens quit, parents must lead the charge and set a good example.
  
  However, I think teens are often not quite as motivated by words. Even inspirational speech earns just a scoff and an eye-roll. Explaining that you have a right to not be verbally assaulted, while true, might come off as an "oh yeah? Well I have this right" in response to your teen's "freedom of speech" argument. In a teenager's irrational mind it might sound like you're just putting your "rights" ahead of theirs yet again and it's always a matter of trying to show that even if you actually aren't, you and your teen are equals. Teenagers want that respect, like you mentioned.
  
  I write for a parenting website from the kid's perspective, radicalparenting.com. We actually have an article on the same idea that might give more perspective to the issue at http://www.parentingteensonline.com/issue/article/name/April_2008/title/How_to_Help_Teens_Stop_Swearing. Check it out if you want, and thanks for the article. Being a bit of a pottymouth myself at times, it makes for a good read.

• Diana O, Gray, ME 04/16/08

  Instead of adding to a swearing jar/bank - I went the other way with it and it has worked really well so far. My daughter, 17, is given a monthly budget amount for expenses - she was swearing quite a bit, so we decided that we would deduct .25 per word from her budget amount the first month and continue up to 1.00 per word in the next months. She had a two week trial before this started on April 1st. In the 2 wks, she did well and we advised she would have lost 1.25 if the rule had been in action. It is now the 15th of April and so far this month she has lost nothing - I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one!! We also added 2 measly chores to the pot for which she loses 10.00 per wk if she doesn't do them both (one is not sufficient), but this has not worked at all and she has lost the 10.00 each week so far. I'm hoping when payday comes on May 1 - maybe she'll be shocked into reality! Oh well, you win some and you lose some, I guess - but at least I don't have to listen to the foul language anymore.

• Diana Forelli 04/14/08

  I’ve tried the dollar payments to a piggy bank; I’ve tried timeouts and taking away privileges. The only thing that seems to work is having one day a week (at home only) where they are allowed to swear. They get it all out on Tuesdays, and then, the rest of the week, they are strictly G-rated. Don’t know how that works at school, but it’s a start!