I heard my 8year old son say the "F" word in his room.?

Question

He was in time-out at the time for fighting with his brother. He didn't know I was within earshot, but when I heard it I came into his room and confronted him saying that he could have NO tv for a week. He knows swearing is not allowed in the house. He admitted he heard it from a couple boys in his class who swear on the playground all the time. I am horrified he even said it. We dont' swear in the house and we limit what kind of programs he is allowed to watch on tv. I just don't want him to turn out like some of these kids in his class. These kids have no parental supervision and no discipline. Am I overreacting?

Answer 1

No, but as long as your children are exposed to other children that behave badly, you are going to have these problems, and possibly worse.  I took mine out of school and you would be amazed at the difference.  They still socialize, but they socialize with children with better social skills and morals.  Being exposed to many different people is good, however there is no discipline anymore in the schools and the other children such as your own will pick up on it because they know they can get away with it...and it's fun.

Answer 2

ill guarentee he will hear alot worse then that before hes out of school.

Answer 3

no you are not over acting. i think you should call your kids school and tell them. tell them someone needs to be watching over the children at the playground

Answer 4

Maybe a little. I was driving my 5 year old home from preschool when from the back seat I heard "mommy what is f--- , is it a bad word"  Um mm I almost drove off the road.  Well he's 7 now and he doesn't go around swearing or using bad language.  It's very likely that your son has hearing this and other swear words for a while now.  When he is alone it's not surprising that he would "test" them out.  But their is a big difference between that and openly using the words in public.  Just keep letting him know that it's not acceptable language and he'll be fine.

Answer 5

You are NOT overreacting.  At age 8, he needs to learn that peers are not to be followed. No time like the present to begin teaching him that.

Answer 6

Yeh you are. At the end of the day its only a word. At least he wasnt using it offencively at someone. He is young, and probally curious as these are new words.

Answer 7

No you are not overreacting because the sooner he learns the word, the sooner he will start using it in an offensive manner. At 8 years old odds are he doesn't truly know what it means and maybe you should explain to him the reasons why he shouldn't say it and what his punishment will be if you hear him say it again.

Answer 8

In my opipion your not over reacting

Answer 9

umm.  I think so.  I feel like a child may say what they want in the privacy of their room.  When a kid is mad they may feel the need to strike out a bit.  Saying the F word when they think no one will hear is not too bad a strategy for getting out anger.  Now if I thought he was intentionally trying to have you hear him, I would feel differently.  

The trick is to give your kids some limits and guidelines without giving the impression to the kids that one little slip means the difference between being a 'bad' kid and a 'good' one.  Your kid and your parenting is more sturdy than that.

Answer 10

Just sit down with him and tell him that swearing is wrong. other kids may do it and they would probably get into trouble for saying it too. I also brought my son up on a no swearing policy and when he did then he was punished for it so you did the right thing by banning the tv for a week. it will help him understand that if he does swear again then he will miss out on the good things for doing the wrong thing.

Good luck!!!

Answer 11

no u are not overacting, in the age of 8 childs are naughty and what we say to them they do as like same as u are saying that ur son heard a wrong word from someone, i think so that he has done no mistake he hears from his friend or any other boy and say as like it spoils him u should do the same and try not to them in the bad company.

Answer 12

you keep doing what your doing, your raising your kids right, unlike a bunch of ppl ive seen. now and days i see kids with the oversized clothes, swearing all the time its like woah when i was a kid i would of gotten into alot of trouble, now parents dont care much about their kids and thats why their are WAY TO MANY "BAD KIDS" so keep doing the right thing, you know whats best for your kids.

Answer 13

nope u gots a right to be mad and ur definently not overeacting at all,you just dont want ur son to turn into a bad seed or something.dont worry just tell him that its not a good thing to say and that u only put him in time out so he will stop being bad.

Answer 14

Yes, you are overreacting.

50 yr old people say the F word. and that's ok?

Everyone sez it, get used to it.

Answer 15

I'm 11 and I hear people swearing at school, since i was 7 i was taught  not to go by those people and tell them that those people are bad! Make a chart on the fridge and everyday, if he doesnt say a swear word he gets a sticker. After he gets 5 stickers he gets to choose to go to like mcdonalds or get a toy from walmart or dollar store ! And if he wears twice in one day then take off one sticker! Hope I helped!

Answer 16

No, you are absolutely not overreacting!! I am sad a kid his age is picking up such bad language. The discipline is fair, especially since he knew he is not allowed to swear. Keep re-enforcing that, and if it becomes a problem again, talk to his teacher about the classmates spreading the word.

Answer 17

yes, you are. life sucks for a person who doesn't know how to swear properly. When your son gets into a verbal argument, swearing properly is the only way for him to stand his ground, before a fight breaks out. Instead of stopping him from cursing all together, teach him an appropriate time to curse. Cursing is part of life. People get mad and say things. Stopping him all together is like not teaching your kids about s*x. They will inappropriately do things at the wrong time.

Answer 18

no you are NOT overreacting, i would of popped him in the mouth (not hard) just enough to make him not want to say that word anymore, but we all have different levels of discipline

Answer 19

You are not overreacting by grounding him for it. It doesn't mean he's a bad kid because it happened. I used to be an 8 yr old boy, and I had great parents, but I used cuss words. Its what boys do. These things happen in the school yard. Boys cuss, spit, swear, fight, f**t, break bones doing dumb stuff, get their heads knocked open jumping on the bed when you told them not too, and on and on and on. If you weren't a good parent, and your boy wasn't a good kid, he'd have said it right in front of you, so he already has a good idea that its not appropriate to use in any setting. If parents called the school every time they heard of kids cussing in the school yard, the administrators would be answering the phone all day long.

Answer 20

stop over reacting if he didnt start swearing by middle school there would have been a problem. just tell him not to say it around adults or younger children or people that would tell an adult and he will be fine dont worry all kids swear eventually

Answer 21

A little bit. If it was the first time he's ever said something like that (or got caught saying it anyways) you should have warned him....

  Having typed that, I would have done the EXACT same thing as you! I'd have felt bad about it later, and would have wished I could have warned him, but I'd have still done the same thing.

Answer 22

No you aren't and it is good that you aren't like some of these mothers that are happy to let their kids F this and B that and have them grow up with foul mouths. However at the same time you have to accept that, in this day and age, kids are going to say it. No matter what you do you can never cut out all his environmental influences, short of never letting him out the house, home schooling and having no privelages - but that would be no life for him. But there's a big difference between a kid letting it slip out in an argument and a kid who says it every other word. I think you are right to punish him and keep true to your 'no swearing' rule - if he grows up understanding that it is a bad thing then even if it doesn't prevent him saying it EVER, it will hopefully prevent him from using it in every day language, which is really what you need to worry about.