How to Stop Children from Cussing

Keeping your children from cussing can be a full time job as parents, especially when you are guilty of the occasional slip yourself. As cussing becomes more and more accepted by society, how are parents supposed to keep their children from joining the masses?

1. Explain what the words mean - Many kids today are not aware of what exactly is coming out of their mouth when they cuss. Kids just follow their peers, trying to fit in and be considered "cool". Words have power, and the knowledge of what the "bad" words mean could be the end to your child's cussing.

2. Teach other word choices - Once a kid finds an acceptable word, they will use it constantly. Teach your children alternate vocabulary. Cussing is truly the lazy way out. When the cuss word is used, ask them for a better word to use in its place. Have a few alternatives ready in case your son or daughter doesn't have a better word. For younger children, make a game out of it. Whenever you hear someone cuss, have your child find a new word to insert into the sentence. This works especially well with television, movies and music.

3. Don't over-react to their cussing - Letting your child know that cussing is not acceptable is one thing. All too often, parents yell and scream at their child over poor word choice (often using the very words deemed "unacceptable") which in turn makes the child more likely to use it. Anything to get a rise, Mom.

4. Be a role model - So many parents today get angry that their children cuss, yet so often cuss themselves. Children are very much monkey see, monkey do (or in this case, monkey hear, monkey say), and the best way to prevent hearing those cuss words coming out of your child's mouth is to stop cussing yourself. My Mom's favorite phrase "If (drinking, cussing, smoking etc) were so great, I'd still be doing it." Nip your own bad habit in the bud, and watch how your children follow suit.

If all else fails, start a cuss jar. For every cuss word a member of the family says, they have to put an agreed upon amount into the jar. This works especially well on teens, who once they start making money, do not want to "waste" any of it on something like cussing. The proceeds from the jar can go to something for the family as a whole, or whomever doesn't swear for a month, or whatever you as a family decide.