Cursing in Public

I was at the park this week with my boys when something interesting happened. There was a group of older teenagers there (high school age) sitting and talking. They were cursing up a storm. Every word you could imagine, they were saying it. Loudly. It really irritated me for two reasons. One, I find it incredibly disrespectful when someone is cursing like a sailor in public, especially around little kids. Two, I don't want my boys hearing those words.

Now I know this was a public place and they have free speech to say whatever they want. But I really didn't want to pack up my boys and leave two minutes after we had arrived. So I very politely asked them to either stop using that language or to go somewhere else. I told them there were little kids around listening and I didn't want my children hearing those words. 

 

Their response? They said sorry and said they would stop. Great!

 

Then about ten minutes later the teenagers were playing on the playground near my boys and one of them shouted the F word really loudly. I immediately turned around and gave him my meanest glare (unfortunately it's not that mean) and he backtracked by saying "Sorry! I meant to say Poop!".

 

Ryan looked at me with wide eyes and said "Mommy! That big boy said poop!!".

 

When I told this story to Adam later that night he said he would never have said anything and would have just left. I'm still glad I said something because maybe, just maybe, it will teach one of them to watch his mouth next time he's around kids.

 

So what would you have done in this situation? Stayed and said something? Ignored them and let your kids hear the bad words? Or left and gone to a different park?