Kids and Swearing

 The ABC show Modern Family made news on January 18 because of some dirty language.  It was necessarily the word that made headlines, but the fact that the show producers had the word coming from the mouth of Lily, a 2 year- old girl.  The storyline centers around Lily's parents, Cam and Mitchell, who are trying to clean up their daughter's language before she appears as a flower girl at an upcoming wedding. (The obscenity was bleeped.)  To some the story line feels in appropriate and in poor taste yet some parents say the episode hits close to home.   

This article from Yahoo News suggests that are brains are hard wired for swearing.  They report that "studies suggest that swearing is firmly embedded in the brain. Swearing is a form of 'formulaic language,, said Diana Van Lancker Sidtis, a professor of communicative sciences and disorders at New York University. These are expressions such as "You bet!" that frequently appear in conversation, and kids learn them as they're learning how to piece together sentences.  Not only does swearing start early, it's hard to dislodge. Stroke victims and people with brain injuries often remember how to swear even when other words elude them, according to a 1999 review by Van Lancker Sidtis in the journal Brain Research Reviews."

Yet Scripture speaks often of controlling our speech to reflect the love of God that is within us to be shared with those around us.  Remember verses such as "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14) or "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).  If we are growing in grace, we are striving to reflect more of Christ in our speech acts as well as our physical actions.  But is our search for holy speech a losing battle against the natural tendency of our brains?  Or can the working of the Holy Spirit rewire us for more healthy conversation?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What isnyour opinion on swearing?  What donyou teach your children about appropriate speech?