The Amazing Race Taught My Young Child to Curse Today

My elementary aged daughter said her first curse word today. Who is to blame for this catastrophe of utmost proportions? Me? You won't hear me saying a curse word! Okay, maybe, a tiny curse word while driving but it turns into "shoot" really fast. Cussing isn't common in our household and family. Our friends? No, if our friends cuss, we haven't heard about it yet. The television? Well, my daughter mainly watches cartoons unless she watches a family style movie or show with me. Which is how it happened. The Amazing Race that we just watched had the competing teams cursing at each other. Calling names like "b*tch". Yes, my elementary aged daughter said "b*tch" tonight.

This occurrence of cursing turned into a discussion of "bad words" versus cursing. She did not understand the difference. In our home, "bad words" are any names that would be making fun of someone or calling names of any sort such as "dumb". It was hard to explain how cursing is profanity and the "bad words" not allowed in our home is for good manners and kindness to others. I, her mother, am not a huge fuddy duddy but I do try to get my child to be kind to others. As we talked, I learned that "b*tch" was not the only curse word that she knew. "Hell" was another cuss word that she knew about and where could this one have come from? A book. One of her elementary level books included the word, explaining that it is a curse word and should not be used. Why even put this information in a children's book?

Should I stop my child from watching The Amazing Race because she is exposed to bad language and profanity? It is the one show that we both enjoy watching together each week. Every day, I see more and more television programs during the day that have bad language in them, not to mention violence. Of course I TIVO these shows and only watch them when my child is not in the room. I would hate to have to do that with every television show besides cartoons! Can't there be some television programs that are family friendly so the whole family can watch them together?

Until further notice, I will be TIVOing all programs and will have to watch them first before exposing my child to the shows. I don't want any more surprises like the one we had tonight. My young child should not be saying that an Amazing Race player "is a britch". She should never have known that word until she was much, much older. Now I will be afraid that she will get mad at a friend and say that. As you notice above, she did say it wrong the second time around and no, I was not going to correct her! Trying to get it turned into birch or britches which is much less likely to be plain that she is cursing or trying to say a cuss word!

Children with autism seem to hold onto new words they learn so it will take some time for her to stop using this word. The next few days will be interesting to say the least. This should not have happened on a television program that seems to be geared towards family friendly television. Do we have to only watch Barney to be safe from nasty language? It is difficult to teach a child not to say these curse words when they see popular characters and team players speaking that way on television. I can totally understand why some families have removed the television from their homes. My young child gets into enough trouble for her behaviors without cursing too. I am disappointed in The Amazing Race for putting us into this predicament. It was unnecessary and could have been bleeped out or dismissed from the program cuts to start with. There was enough fighting in the show for viewers to see the tension without including it in.