When a child curses more than once, do you give him a referral? What works best when it comes to stopping a child from repeating a bad behavior?
Writing a referral for cursing at my school is sort of like writing speeding tickets at the Indianapolis 500. Usually "Hey!" is as far as I go. :|
I teach grade 1 and have dealt with this already this year. The first time I heard the child say it I took him into the hall and talked with him about how that word was not appropriate it at school. He appeared remorseful so I left it at that. Often they are just testing things out. He used the word correctly (i.e. "My **** pencil just broke) so I figured I would hear it again. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later he used the same word again when he was frustrated. This time I kept him in at recess to review again that this was not appropriate at school and I also spoke to one of his parents to make them aware of the situation. So far, so good! I suppose if he did it again I could involve the principal. Hopefully I won't need to, though.
I think it depends - did they repeat the behavior because they want to get your goat, or is it just such an ingrained habit that it's hard for them to control it? How old are they and how bad is the profanity?
We have a policy for swearing which is an after school detention and a form to be signed by parents. Our school has some problems, but somehow swearing isn't one of the common ones. My past school had much more swearing. The best way to rid a student of a bad habit I have ever seen is Omission training in the book Tools For Teaching by Fred Jones. By far it is the best thing I have ever found. It is about 6-10 pages, so I don't think I can do justice to it in a post of only a few sentences.
I just bark out "language filter alert!" and it stops. Our son (in his 20's) dropped the "f" bomb at the dinner table one night. My wife about tore his head off. Her final comment was "I have to listen to that all day at work, and I will not listen to it here!" She was in a Self-Contained HS classroom (Behavioral) at the time.
Also agree with others that it depends on who, what, when, etc. If you have any more specifics - context, grade of student, possible purpose, etc. we may be more helpful!
well the student makes a mistake doing something while on his desk and then curses, and i already warned him, he's a high school student
I typically hear it in the hallways as I go from class to class. My "Watch your language please" is nevitably met with a "Sorry, Mrs. A."
I used to just say "Language" and my HS kids would apologize. A lot of them dont even realize they do it. Last year I had a chart for one class where they got a tally mark every time they cursed. It didn't fully stop it but it did curb the behavior. This year I'm using Class Dojo and have Inappropriate Language as a negative behavior and it's working well to make them aware of it and get them to stop.
By ''child'' what age do you mean? In my last school (high school) I would usually just say ''watch your mouth!'' Sometimes they would ask if I curse and I say of course I do but not in school. And would give a lecture about appropriate locations to curse, etc. Now, if a child cursed at me that was a different story. But to me a kid who mumbles a curse word under his breath is innocent, and a kid who says ''F YOU MS. SO AND SO!'' deserves punishment.
As I was releasing my "car riders" this afternoon, I heard the children in the 2nd grade classroom next door to me literally screaming (they had a sub, and had been crazy all day). I looked over, and low and behold, one of my students from last year, and the brother of a kiddo I had 2 years ago were standing in the doorway of their classroom, screaming profanities at the sub. She was called every name in the book, and told "f.... you" several times I set my remaining kiddos a task and walked over, calmly informed the sub that I would notify parents, and walked the boys to my classroom. One had to leave immediately for his bus, but the other remained. I picked up my phone and immediately contacted both parents (I had great relationships with them). One of the boys will DEFINITELY have severe consequences (not abuse, but he definitely knows better and will be reminded of that). The other? I'm not so sure about, but I know that I was believed (more than the word of a sub would have been) because of my relationship with mom. I also documented it, and if it EVER happens again, the boys will receive an official referral and will probably spend time in ISS.
Profanity must be stopped and not allowed, but how you deal with it depends on the situation. (a student is always cursing, a student uses profanity towards you, a curse word accidentally slips out, age, other behavior issues, etc)
I don't even allow my students to say "stupid" or "dumb". Those are the S and D words in my classroom. I just announce "We do not use the S word in this classroom." If more serious language occurs when they don't think I'm listening, I pull them out quietly and give them a talking to. If it's done in front of me, I give them a death glare, send them outside, and talk to them once I set the class to work on something.
I teach high schoolers. Unfortunately it's part of their everyday language. If I hear it in my classroom I just usually say Watch your Language! and they get the point. Now if it was directed at me or another student I would write it up.
When the f word slips, I say "Language... You meant to say fudgesicle right?" And they usually repeat that back. I repeat that enough, and they start saying that around me... along the lines of "fuuuuuucdgesicle." (or something equivalent.) This policy also goes for the word "retard" and referring to things as "gay". If it is directed towards me or another student, then that's a different story. I never just let it go though... I always address it somehow, but not necessarily with a referral. I used to swear all the time in high school and college. I had to reteach myself how to say things... so do they.
Immediately it would be "Get out and go straight to the office." No, just kidding! I would probably just say, "Seriously?"
