When children are in elementary school, the thought of swearing is terrifying. When they go to middle school, they are overwhelmed with their sense of freedom, and some may find that the middle schoolers’ use of swear words is over the top. But what happens when we reach high school? When the average American reaches high school, they should be able to swear around the adults in their lives.

Ever since people have been able to talk, many guardians want to make sure children don’t swear, claiming religious reasons or simply following the norm. And that makes sense, yes? No one wants to hear a 5-year-old blurting out swears, it’s not considered appropriate to most. 

However, when children leave elementary school, they are overwhelmed with their sense of independence. They are invincible in their minds, and the ability to swear around their friends only promotes that sense of entitlement. 

Despite this, it is not helpful to prohibit swearing when a child grows into the latter stages of their under-18 life. It allows for the child to relate on a more personal level with their parents and the adults in their lives. Kids curse all the time, and the idea that swearing should be extremely prohibited is simply preposterous. 

Now, I am not saying that elementary and middle school students should now be able to blurt out curse words whenever they so please, but high school students should be allowed to openly express their emotions and thoughts, and if that is through the occasional curse word, then so be it.

High school students are learning about how to become adults in the world, and cursing is a normal part of that. And if parents want their children to grow up and learn how to experience real life, then they should teach them that swearing is really not that big of a deal. 

In fact, swearing is promoting your intelligence. While many may think that swearing is an unintelligent and illiterate use of language, it actually has been found that the fluency of one’s use of swear words attributes to a more advanced sense of vocabulary, and a more articulate speaker, found by a study by psychologists from Marist College. 

Swearing not only contributes to a more articulate speaker but also provides natural pain relief— so the next time you are in serious pain, just swear a bunch. It will help you feel better!

So when it comes to whether or not kids should swear, I believe that the answer is yes. While yes, there are some limitations given that small children up to the age of 12 should most likely not swear, the general health of a human being is significantly better when you swear.