Choice Words

I was listening to a local radio station the other day and I heard a song that had an awesome back-beat. I wanted to get out of the car and dance. But then I tuned in to the words…Oh, my! The radio station “subtly” bleeped out the “f” word and the “b” word and a few other “choice” words. Really? Come on, we know the deal.

Why is this bothersome to me? I’m glad you asked. I find this bothersome because our children are listening to this music. It sounds good, there’s a constant rhythm which makes it easy to learn and easy to member…repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.

Think about it, all of a sudden, one day you hear your three-year-old belting out those lyrics. With shock and awe, you don’t know what to say. After you collect yourself, you tell the three-year-old that the words in the music are “bad words,” not appropriate. The three-year-old may not (should not) understand so you try to explain the why.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t explain the why.  I don’t know the why. There are so many wonderful words and expressions that can be used, especially for commercial airtime, and the lyricists can still get their point across.

If we are going to teach our children appropriate language and how to express themselves without the use of profanity, then we need to consider what we are feeding their pliable brains every day. Think about it.

On a semi-related note, here’s a situation that I ask you to think about. This actually came from a Dear Abby column.

“Dear Abby:  is there a way to respond to individuals who use swear words often and loudly in public places such as restaurants? Hearing the f-word used by people at the next table ruins my enjoyment of my meal. Signed by —Offended in the West.”

How would you respond to Offended? Have you ever been in this situation? Have you ever been the offender?  Where do rights end and personal responsibility began? Just because you can, should you? Send your thoughts to jmitchell@spokesman-recorder.com to continue the conversation.